WATCH ABOVE: There is never an easy time for drivers to get through Montreal’s notoriously bad rush hour traffic, but for those living in Île-Perrot, things are taking a turn for the worse. Global’s Tim Sargeant reports.
ÎLE-PERROT – There is never an easy time for drivers to get through Montreal’s notoriously bad rush hour traffic, but in some places, things are taking a turn for the worse.
Tens of thousands of motorists are getting stuck in daily morning traffic as they approach the Galipeault bridge, heading downtown from Île-Perrot.
Some motorists complain they’ve been waiting for incomprehensible times just to access the highway.
“It takes me forty five minutes. Yesterday, two hours,” one driver told Global News as he sat waiting for a light to change on Grand Boulevard.
The delays are due to Transports Quebec’s decision to remove a merger lane onto the highway as contractors repair part of the Proulx bridge, which feeds into the Galipeault.
Temporary lights have been installed to help motorists get onto the highway safely, but the plan has created massive congestion.
Thursday morning, two Sûreté du Québec officers directed traffic to help keep things flowing.
Their presence helped ease the congestion, but many motorists were still stuck waiting on Grand Boulevard in lines that went as far as the eye could see.
“Horrible. We just moved here a month ago – and a world of a difference,” another driver told Global News.
“So much more traffic. Takes me double the time to get to work.”
The new traffic lights are a temporary measure, according to Transports Quebec spokesperson Mario St-Pierre.
They will be permanently removed after the work on the bridge is finished – scheduled for October 2016.
St-Pierre can’t promise the lights will be removed before then, but the MTQ is looking at reconfiguring the work site to better accommodate drivers.
It’s estimated more than 52,000 vehicles cross the Galipeault bridge everyday.
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