Traffic was already pretty bad on St-Jean Boulevard on Monday morning, but motorists in the area are bracing for a nightmare that’s yet to come with more lane closures next week.
One lane southbound is closed and there is also work at some intersections. As of next Monday, the entire southbound lane, between Shakespeare Street and Labrosse Avenue will be closed to traffic.
On the northbound side, two of the three lanes will be open to traffic headed south during morning rush hour, and in the afternoons there will be two lanes for traffic heading north.
“I wasn’t aware of that,” says Luciano Gallo, looking surprised as he heard the news while filling up at a gas station on St-Jean. He pondered some alternatives.
“Maybe go north and then go east and then go south — I have no idea what I’m gonna do yet,” he says, laughing.
Indeed, the real work begins next Monday.
The street and the gas networks are being redone, and sidewalks are being widened.
It’s work that Mayor Alex Bottausci says is badly needed.
“You can tell by the cracking and everything that it’s in really bad shape from Shakespeare all the way down to Labrosse.”
He says no work needs to be done on the northbound lanes for another few years.
The area was torn up just last year, but Bottausci explains that utility services needed the time to do their work.
READ MORE: St-Jean Boulevard undergoing major roadwork in DDO
“Last year, we had Hydro-Québec that came through and they did their services,” he explains. “It was impossible to do the work all at the same time, due to technical issues.”
He understands the work will cause disruptions and is asking for patience.
Still, drivers are left trying to figure out how to navigate through the resulting mess.
“You have to take alternate routes,” Gallo laughs. “Everybody takes alternate routes and it just ends up being one big congestion.”
The $3-million construction project is scheduled to end Aug. 10.