While less severe than expected, the impact of the new obstructions at the top of Quebec City’s bridges are causing some headaches for motorists grappling with a busier evening rush hour.
The Quebec Department of Transportation (MTQ) announced ten days ago that the on-ramp between Champlain Boulevard and the Southern Henri IV Freeway will be closed from August 14 to a maximum of September 2.
Vehicles must make a detour via Avenue des Hôtels before taking Boulevard Laurier and then taking the Route 175 exit, which takes them south on Henri-IV.
heavy traffic
These new barriers will challenge the patience of road users who pass through the area on a daily basis.
The work hasn’t caused massive traffic jams so far, but the fact remains that it “adds a layer to already difficult traffic” in an area where “there are a lot of big construction sites,” notes Luc Selesse, spokesman for Taxi Coop, in Quebec .
“You want to drive Henri-IV and keep complaining [le boulevard du] north side. […] It is problematic to provide service anywhere and everywhere [à nos clients] ‘ he added, recalling that ‘our Way of the Cross is not finished’ on Henri IV.
“During the evening rush hour, i.e. between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., traffic on Champlain Boulevard towards Saint-Louis Road is heavier,” confirms MTQ spokeswoman Émilie Sir.
However, she recalls that the work will be completed “as soon as possible” and that a police presence at the intersection of Chemin Saint-Louis and Avenue des Hôtels will “facilitate traffic in this sector”.
Caught in traffic
The same observation is made at Med Express, a company specializing in express shipping. Its owner and general manager, Stéphane Boudreau, recently saw it for himself. “Of course at the end of the day, yes, we realize it. […] A driver who has to depart from the North Shore to do an assignment on the South Shore, well, that gets more complex. »
Mr Boudreau points out that all of this is happening as the new school year approaches, which does not bode well. “The further it progresses, the more it goes [s’]strengthen,” he says.
The Journal had the same story from a transport company in the region, where there is a report of a rush hour starting earlier in recent days.
“It got really harder at the end of the day. Our drivers are involved,” the man, who preferred not to be named, claimed.
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