Angrignon Overpass closures has drivers seeing red

The Angrignon Boulevard Overpass — a crucial link to LaSalle that runs over the Lachine Canal and Highway 20 — is going to narrow to one alternating lane starting Monday. The situation is slated to persist for a solid year. “Closing it down to one lane is just going to make it insane,” said Esther Kahan, who commutes to her job at the Douglas Hospital from her home in Notre-Dame-de-Grace.

The closures are occurring so work on the Turcot Interchange can be completed. The project is almost three-quarters done, and a lot of the lanes that feed into the overpass are being changed out and reconfigured to fit into the new  Turcot. Transports Quebec told Global News the work is unavoidable.

The work was initially slated to start in December. Transports Quebec spokesperson Martin Girard says it was moved to February at the request of borough officials in LaSalle.  Even though the stretch of the overpass being narrowed to one lane is less than 500 metres long,  it will have a huge effect on commuters, said traffic analyst Rick Leckner. “It can cause a bottleneck and I expect it will,” Leckner told Global News, adding that there are other ways to get in and out of LaSalle but they’re not easy routes to use. The situation is serious enough that Urgence Santé has taken measures to keep paramedics and ambulances in LaSalle in an effort to respond to emergencies quickly.