There won’t be any shovels in the ground any time soon, but Transport Quebec is taking another step in its plan to improve and upgrade a section of Highway 20 in L’Île-Perrot.
Transports Québec has plans to redevelop a seven-kilometre stretch of the highway from the Galipeault bridge east of L’Île-Perrot to Route 342 in Vaudreuil-Dorion.
Between 25,000 to 53,000 vehicles use this part of the autoroute every day.
A portion of the stretch of highway becomes a busy boulevard in a commercial area with traffic lights and has a speed limit of 50 km/h, causing heavy traffic and headaches for those commuting on and off island.
The transport ministry says this call to tenders will provide them the tools to analyze what can be done to improve accessibility for everyone.
L’Île-Perrot mayor Pierre Seguin says the study will focus on active transportation.
“New plans will be including pedestrian places, bicycle path, easier way for the buses to go by, “ he says.
Seguin adds the emergency temporary shut down of the l’Île-aux-Tourtes Bridge in the spring was a major wake-up call for the government and hopes it was the push it finally needs to redevelop the highway.
“It has to be done for the complete part. From Galipeault Bridge to the 30 as an autoroute,” he added.
Transports Québec launched a roundtable to discuss the busy corridor in 2018.
It included representatives from surrounding municipalities and public transport organizations from both the provincial and federal level.
Users just hope a new vision for the highway can be developed quickly so that their drive becomes faster and smoother down the road.