Traffic leading to the Mercier Bridge was pretty bad early Wednesday morning — but it didn’t compare to the congestion drivers experienced Tuesday.
“Horrible, horrible,” said Didier Pierre-Jacques at a gas station as he waited to get onto the bridge. “It took me an hour and a half to get out of Châteauguay.”
By about 8 a.m. Wednesday, however, it was clear sailing.
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“Oh this morning is like a ghost town,” said Darlene, a gas station attendant who didn’t give her last name.
“Nobody wants to go across the bridge because they figure it’s going to be backed up like it was yesterday.”
The traffic mayhem is being caused by construction on the Mercier Bridge. The section owned by the province — leading from Montreal to the South Shore — is being repaired which means only one lane in each direction on the Montreal-bound side is open.
In addition to the closures on the bridge, the Airlie Street entrance in the Montreal borough of Lasalle to Route 138 and the Mercier Bridge is also closed, with detours via Lafleur Avenue and Clément Street.
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Some drivers travelling from the South Shore seem to have found a way to beat the traffic.
“Everybody’s taking different routes,” Darlene told Global News.
With all the restrictions Transports Québec did caution motorists to plan ahead and use alternate routes. It seems, at least for now, some have heeded that advice, even if they don’t like it.
The closures will continue until Aug. 20.
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