MONTREAL – Quebec has a plan to make the Décarie Interchange safer over the next two years but promises the $110-million project will not cause “nightmarish” traffic on one of the province’s busiest highway stretches.
The D̩carie Circle Рwhere Highway 15 (the D̩carie Expressway) and Highway 40 (the Metropolitan Expressway) meet Рhas been the scene of many accidents. There were 1,637 collisions from 2003 to 2007.
The problem: too many successive merges of cars heading in different directions, Transport Quebec says. Drivers must make several complicated merges through potential points of conflict over a short period of time.
Designed in the 1950s, the interchange, which straddles the border of Town of Mount Royal and Montreal’s St. Laurent borough, was not built for the number of vehicles that currently use it – 280,000 daily, Transport Quebec spokesperson Real Grégoire said.
“Under the new configuration, there will be more fluidity of traffic and fewer merges,” though the interchange’s capacity will not be increased, Grégoire said.
He said much of the construction will be done at night and on weekends. And there will be minimal impact on traffic during the construction of roads where none currently exists, Grégoire noted.
“There will be an impact on traffic but it won’t be nightmarish, the way some people say it might be,” he said, adding the project is being done in phases to avoid gridlock.
The work, all of which is to take place on the interchange’s north side, started a year ago. A large new overpass has been built, but Transport Quebec unveiled its detailed plan only this week.
The main changes are aimed at reducing two major bottlenecks:
Highway 40’s westbound service road is often clogged with traffic. Part of it will be widened to four lanes from three and straightened, with fewer merges.
A second lane will be added to the ramp connecting the northbound 15 to the westbound 40. That’s expected to reduce traffic tie-ups on the Décarie Expressway.
Other changes include:
Connections to Décarie and Marcel Laurin Blvds. and Dion St. in St. Laurent will be simplified to better link the highways to residential and commercial areas.
A southbound reserved bus lane will be added, speeding up buses that travel from the du Collège métro station in St. Laurent to the westbound 40.
The intersection of Lucerne Rd./Ste. Croix Ave. and Highway 40’s service road will be made safer for those on foot and bicycle.
The city of Montreal is contributing $10 million to the project.
The work is expected to be completed by late 2013.
A second phase is to follow, focusing on the southern part of the interchange. That will involve altering the unusual configuration of the ramp connecting the 40 westbound to the 15 southbound.
Currently, traffic from the 40 exits the highway on the left. That ramp will be moved to the right side to make it easier and safer to transfer from the 40 to the 15.
Grégoire said it is too early to say when Phase 2 will start or how much it will cost.
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