Two Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue overpasses are coming down

WATCH: The massive effort to tear down ageing overpasses off Highway 40 in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue is well underway. Global’s Tim Sargeant reports.

SAINTE-ANNE-DE-BELLEVUE – The massive effort to tear down ageing overpasses off Highway 40 in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue is well underway.

It’s part of a major overhaul to reconfigure the entire area near boulevard des Anciens-Combattants and chemin Sainte-Marie.

The $2.7 million construction project is expected to last until the end of August and according to Mayor Paola Hawa, it’s scheduled to reopen just in time for the new school year.

The new look will be a ground level T-intersection with traffic lights.

Hawa said she originally wanted to repair the existing overpasses, but the long term costs were too much.

“It became obvious that keeping the overpasses was not a financially viable option,” she told Global News.

Both residents living in the area and drivers using the exit are thrilled the demolition has finally begun.

“Well, it’s about time they do it cause there’s a lot of traffic here,” one driver told Global News.

The two overpasses were closed four years ago and have been left untouched ever since.

Hawa said the new T-intersection will reopen direct access between the northern residential area of Sainte-Anne’s with the downtown village.

It will also stop people from making illegal U-turns or turning in private driveways to access boulevard des Anciens-Combattants as they come off Highway 40.

“I’m very happy. I just can’t wait until it’s done because right now I have to make a big detour when I want to come home,” a local resident said.

The demolition of the second overpass is slated to start next week.