Global News has learned that Transport Quebec is studying a proposal to build a bypass highway through the Dorion sector of Vaudreuil-Dorion to alleviate a lot of the traffic on the existing A20, which is riddled with traffic lights, often causing major congestion.
The study is looking at the impact a new beltway would have on traffic fluidity.
Officials are also studying the social, environmental and economic effects a new beltway would have on the area and how many vehicles would use it daily.
There are still many unknowns.
“We are not able to tell you if we are going to go ahead with this project, if so, when we are going to be able to do the work,” Sarah Bensadoun, a spokesperson at Transport Quebec, told Global News.
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The bypass would start just west of the Taschereau bridge over the Outaouais River and run parallel to the CN railroad tracks through Dorion before reconnecting to Highway 20 less than four kilometres away.
“It’s a great idea, it needs to be done,” Maxime Bouchard, an employee at the electric hardware store Dubo, told Global News.
Bouchard says talks have occurred for decades to build the beltway.
He says building it would move heavy trucks and through traffic off the existing Highway 20 and onto the new beltway, which would be a big improvement for local residents and businesses.
“If they move the 20 like they say they’re doing, everybody is going to be happy,” he said.
It’s a message that Guy Pilon, the mayor of Vaudreuil-Dorion, has been sending for years.
Pilon says Transport Quebec owns the land parallel to the tracks and now it’s a question of clear-cutting trees and building the highway.
“If the road is made where it’s supposed to be, the trucks and the traffic that want to go through will go through,” Pilon told Global News.
Pilon is disappointed it still hasn’t been done.
“The land is there. It’s free,” he said.
It’s a new bypass many hope will be built so that the current traffic mess on the A20 can be left in the rear view mirror.