Expect delays on A40 this weekend

VAUDREUIL – Drivers could be in for a rough ride during the next couple of days along highway A40 in Vaudreuil.

Lanes in both directions will be closed overnight from Friday to Saturday morning near the St-Charles Avenue overpass.

Access to the overpass will also be closed, forcing drivers to take lengthy detours.

“I still feel we could use some extra lanes but there’s just not the space out here from what I can tell,” Chris Hoffman, a longtime worker in the area said Friday afternoon.

The explosion in demographics has forced Transports Quebec officials and city officials to rethink the urban planning in the area.

The overpass is being widened to four lanes from two. And more lanes are being added to local roads leading to the elevated structure.

More than 15,000 vehicles use the overpass everyday. This part of town has been plagued with traffic congestion for years because the road network was never built to accommodate the growing volume.

The St-Charles overpass is expected to be completely opened by mid-December. And the final touch-ups will be done by the summer of 2015.

“It’s been crazy for a few weeks but now it’s great,” one motorist said while waiting at a traffic light.

The entire project is budgeted at $13.1 million, mostly covered by Transports Quebec.

The mayor of Vaudreuil-Dorion was very critical of how Transports Quebec managed the project during the summer but now he’s satisfied with the work to date.

“We will be okay for the next 50 years, so it’s okay now,” Guy Pilon said from outside city hall.

Many area residents and workers just hope that’s the case so they can put the construction and congestion problems behind them once and for all.