The official launch of summer is bringing major road closures in Montreal over the next two weekends.
Transports Québec is asking drivers to plan ahead and take public transit when possible during June 21-24 and June 28-July 1.
The closures comes as the new Samuel de Champlain Bridge, which connects Montreal to the South Shore, is set to open to northbound traffic on June 24 and southbound traffic on July 1.
Authorities say the current Champlain Bridge will be completely off limits to traffic both those weekends as work is completed on the new structure.
“There is a lot of roadwork and major projects going on in the Montreal area especially in the area of the Champlain bridge, The Turcot Interchange,” said Transports Québec spokesperson Martin Girard. “There is major work major projects on tight schedules, that’s why we need to do this work.”
“We tried to limit as much as possible the amount of closures but we have to do some closures to make sure that at the end we respect our deadlines.”
As part of the plan, it will be tricky to get to Montreal this weekend. Highway 10 West between exit 11 and the entrance for Highway 10 East will be completely closed starting at 10 p.m. on Friday night. It will reopen at 5 a.m. on Monday, June 24.
Drivers are being asked to use the Victoria Bridge as an alternative, which will have two lanes open toward Montreal.
There will also be other streets and highways that will be off limits this coming weekend, including but not limited to the following:
- On the Turcot Interchange, the ramp onto Highway 15 northbound from Highway 15.
- Highway 20/Route 136/Highway 720 East between the Turcot Interchange and the Notre-Dame exit.
- The ramp linking Highway 15 South to Route 136 and Highway 720 East.
- The Ramp linking Highway 15 South to Highway 20 West.
- Highway 15 southbound between the Turcot Interchange and the Jean-Talon exit.
A full list of Montreal traffic closures, detours and schedules can be found online.
Major road closures for Canada Day long weekend, too
The road headaches don’t end there. The following holiday weekend will be difficult for those trying to head to the South Shore.
Highway 15 South and Highway 10 East between the Turcot Interchange and the Taschereau Boulevard exit in Brossard will be completely closed as of 10 p.m. on Friday. They will reopen at 11 a.m. on Monday, July 1.
As an alternative, Victoria Bridge will have two lanes open to traffic for those heading to Saint-Lambert.
Transports Québec will release a full list of road closures for the weekend of June 28-July 1 in the Montreal area next week.
WATCH: New Samuel de Champlain Bridge set to open
— With files from Global News’ Gloria Henriquez