To the relief of many Montreal motorists, construction of highway A-30, which will reduce traffic on the island of Montreal, is finally nearing completion.
The highway is located on the South Shore of the St. Lawrence River and will serve as a southern bypass for the city.
It’s scheduled to open in 2012 and nearly 30,000 vehicles are expected to use it when it opens.
The building of a particular bridge is a critical and final component of the project.
The bridge will cross the St. Lawrence River in the town of Salaberry de Valleyfield, roughly 50 kilometres southwest of Montreal.
It’s hoped that the completed autoroute will reduce the number of trucks driving on to the island while en route to the United States, Ontario and the Eastern Townships.
“It will definitely save time. More than have an hour of time for sure,” said Denis Léonard, chief engineer of the project.
The 42 kilometres of highway under construction is the largest current infrastructure project in Canada.
“It’s a huge project,” said Leonard, who noted workers are ahead of construction with the bridge. “We’re working everywhere at the same time to complete it.”
Finishing this yet-to-be-named bridge in Valleyfield will complete the construction project.
“I’m really excited,” Leonard said. “You have to understand it’s one of the biggest [infrastructure] projects in Canada.”
One of the keys to making sure that traffic continues to flow smoothly around greater Montreal is making sure all the work to complete and open Autoroute 30 is done well before they start tearing down the Turcot Interchange.
Quebec’s transport minister, Sam Hamad, insists the work on A-30 will be done first.
Tearing down and rebuilding the Turcot is scheduled to begin at the end of next year – the same time Autoroute 30 is slated for completion.
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