Montreal seeks L’Acadie solution

MONTREAL – If you’re planning to use L’Acadie interchange while a heavy rain warning is in effect, the city of Montreal and Transport Quebec have a message for you: Be prepared to turn around.

The half-century-old interchange, rebuilt in 2004 for $110 million, has been the scene of at least five floodings in as many years. Its tendency to flood has led the two levels of government that administer its drainage system to occasionally suggest the other isn’t pulling its weight when it comes keeping the overflow under control.

But now, after heavy rain last Friday forced the closure of two of the interchange’s access lanes, Quebec and Montreal have decided to work together to survey the drainage systems on L’Acadie and its surrounding road network.

They’ve budgeted three months to complete the survey -which will see any findings come well after this year’s flash-flood season.

In the meantime, however, the bureaucracies in charge of L’Acadie’s highway lanes (Transport Quebec) and its service roads and access ramps (the city of Montreal) have decided to co-operate to make sure that if the flooding can’t be stopped this summer, the odds on cars being trapped have to be reduced.

"The city and (Transport Quebec) are equipped … to track the weather at all times," reads a communique sent this week to The Gazette by Montreal city hall. "When an unusual weather system reveals itself … (Transport Quebec) and the city will pay particular attention to crucial sectors (of the road network) such as the L’Acadie interchange.

"From the moment flooding of the lanes is noticed, (Transport Quebec personnel) will initiate the shutdown of lanes … (and) proceed to detour traffic."

The city sent the statement to The Gazette on Monday, in lieu of a requested interview with Richard Deschamps, Montreal executive committee member responsible for infrastructure. Earlier that day, 98.5 FM morning show host Paul Arcand gave Deschamps a rough ride, asking repeatedly why, after five years and a $110 million overhaul, L’Acadie’s service roads continued to flood.

Transport Quebec spokesperson Real Gregoire acknowledged this week that the province had taken steps to reduce the threat of flooding on the lanes of the interchange itself. They included sealing the holes in manhole covers and installing traps on sewers to prevent overflow from seeping onto the road surface. But he stressed that whatever measures the province had taken on its own to make L’Acadie an all-weather thoroughfare, Quebec and Montreal were now working together to solve its problems.

"The dynamic is different now," he said, "It’s not because we took those measures and the city didn’t that the city should be perceived as having dragged its feet."

Meanwhile, the priority will be to ensure the safety of motorists using it during a heavy rainstorm.

"We’ll shut down flooded lanes, wait until they drain, and then reopen them," Gregoire said. "We all know there’s a problem on the L’Acadie, what we have to do is find that problem and … find a solution."

jmennie@thegazette.canwest.com