Highway 640 West in Terrebonne will be off limits until at least next week, after it was discovered part of the pavement where Hydro-Québec was working sunk about two inches.
Hydro-Québec spokesperson Francis Labbé said the structure is expected to reopen around Christmas.
The westbound part of the highway was closed to traffic early Thursday morning, with Transports Québec citing “road failure” as the reason for the closure.
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“It is a preventative measure,” said Transports Québec spokesperson Martin Girard. “Specialists deemed it wasn’t safe to have traffic circulating on the road.”
For now, Transports Québec is recommending motorists use Claude-Léveillée, Chemin Comtois, Rang Lepage and Highway 335 as alternatives.
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Girard explained, however, that the ministry’s game plan to reduce congestion is to introduce two-way traffic in the eastbound lanes of Highway 640, until work can be done to fix the road.
Hydro-Québec said Highway 640 East is expected to open to two-way traffic before the weekend.
The public utility will focus on mitigating traffic and will then rebuild the road where the sinking occurred.