VILLE SAINT-PIERRE – For drivers in Ville St. Pierre, Montreal West and NDG, Monday morning’s commute was a little tougher.
The Montreal West Interchange is getting a complete redesign and that means years of orange cones becoming a familiar sight.
There are massive closures, including access to Highway 20 and the Mercier bridge from Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue Boulevard.
READ MORE: More Turcot work spells traffic gloom for west-bound motorists
It’s not the only closure: Detours are being set up at the St. Jacques exit off the 20 East.
For traffic consultant Rick Leckner, the lack of planning is clear.
“I think that successive governments have done a lousy job preparing for this,” he said.
“There’s a lot that could have been done years ago. The Turcot Interchange project was announced eight years ago. There is no reason why we should be in this situation without Cavendish Boulevard or a Train de l’Ouest.”
NDG city councillor Peter McQueen agreed.
READ MORE: Inside the Turcot Interchange
He insisted west end commuters aren’t a priority the Transport department.
“Transports Quebec put a lot of effort into buses into the West Island in 2012,” he said.
“It seems like they got that organized about three years before the actual shutdowns that will affect them, which are coming next year.”
“Meantime in NDG, as soon as they shut St. Jacques, we’ve had problems on our buses. Now we might have more.”
Now the planning lies with motorists, as they try to find a way to get to work in the morning.
“People have to learn to find their own route, but hopefully that won’t be through too many of the residential streets of Montreal West and western NDG,” said Leckner.
“There are some ‘secret’ routes, but there’s a legitimate concern that this could add some safety issues.”
Drivers in the west end will have plenty of time to get used to the changes.
Closures are expected to last until 2019.
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