Work on the future electric rail network is causing traffic snarls on a major artery of Montreal’s Sud-Ouest borough.
For the next two months, a portion of Wellington Street will be partially closed to traffic.
Wellington between Bridge and St-Patrick streets will be temporarily made into a one-way.
One of two traffic lanes will be open and it will no longer be possible to turn left on St-Patrick Street.
Drivers heading towards Verdun using the major thoroughfare will have to detour onto St-Patrick and return to Wellington.
“We’re commissioning the REM this year for the South Shore so it’s an important route,” Emmanuelle Rouillard-Moreau, REM spokesperson, said.
Half of the street has been taken over to facilitate electrical infrastructure work on the REM substation.
Rouillard-Moreau said the work is necessary and will be instrumental in the highly anticipated first stage of openings for the light rail project this fall.
“This year we are going to commission the part from the South Shore from Brossard to Gare central,” Rouillard-Moreau said. “The Wellington substation has an important place on the route so it is very important that we complete this work by the summer.”
With daily closures of the nearby Victoria Bridge due to repair work, drivers are being asked to avoid the area if possible to reduce traffic jams, especially during rush hour.
Rouillard-Moreau said ample signage and traffic controllers will be stationed at choke points to help redirect the flow of traffic.
Officials reassured that access to businesses and companies in the area will be maintained at all times.
The work is expected to be completed on the substation and the street reopened, according to Rouillard-Moreau, by the beginning of June.
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