Dorval Circle Upgrade (40 years late,but still needed )

Well finally Dorval Circle is to be upgraded,.....Yikes ,that wasn't too long a wait was it.

 Thanks to Guy Billard alerting us to this highway project going on at almost the same time as they are to start the Turcot & Bonaventure exchange upgrades,.Wow planning at it's best, I love traffic planners ,.Out here We have the brilliance of putting in Traffic Circles (like they are a new invention) because of mostly transplanted traffic planners from anywhere els but here ,who feel that this 'new idea' ( been around in Europe for Millenums is a 'good thing' ....it's only a different thing, & it's a pain in the .....well you know....... However here's the Dorval story where they will replace the old circle:

New road plan for Montreal airport to take off this spring

Old Dorval Circle to be replaced with eight new overpasses and new roads

Last Updated: Monday, February 16, 2009 | 5:40 PM ET

CBC News

The new configuration of the Dorval Circle will include eight overpasses and roads to give drivers direct access from Highways 20 and 520 and the airport. (Transport Quebec)

Drivers trying to get to and from Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport will have a smoother ride in the near future, say government officials who announced a $224-million reconstruction project Monday.

The project, which is being paid for by federal, provincial and municipal governments, involves the complete overhaul of the troublesome Dorval Circle plus the addition of new, direct links between the airport and Highways 20 and 520.

Once the work is done in 2013, travellers and airport employees will be able to get to and from the airport without interfering with local traffic, said Dorval Mayor Edgar Rouleau.

Rouleau has been waiting for the road project to get to this stage since he first became a city councillor in 1982.

He said reconstruction moved to the top of the priority list as traffic in the area exploded and the existing concrete structures began to fall apart.

"Finally," he exclaimed when asked how he felt about the project getting the go-ahead.

"They have already started. They are under tender now for all the bridges now."

Redesign to separate local and airport traffic

Eight new overpasses will be built as part of the project.

The circular Dorval interchange will be eliminated. In its place, Dorval Avenue will extend northward, isolating local traffic from roads linking the nearby highways with the airport.

New pedestrian and bike access will also be added.

The lion's share of the cost, $89 million, will be covered by the Quebec government. Ottawa will pay $55 million, with the City of Montreal pitching in $40 million. The airport and public transit will fund the rest.

Construction is expected to begin this spring.

No news on airport-downtown rail link

One highly-anticipated component was missing from Monday's announcement: the addition of a rail shuttle between the airport and downtown Montreal.

The federal and provincial governments are currently studying possible routes and costs.

Even though there is no formal agreement yet on the rail link, James Cherry, head of the Montreal Airport Authority, is optimistic that it can be built around the same time the Dorval circle project.

Cherry said if the rail project can go to public consultation next year, then the two projects could dovetail nicely.

"We're on track to be able to do that sometime in 2010. Does that mean 2013 is reasonable? Within a year of that, probably," said Cherry.

The airport has already worked a train stop into its new hotel and U.S. departures building.

"Under that building, we've built the tunnel and the shell of that station already. It's already there. So we're waiting for a spur line to come off that main line and we're ready to roll," said Cherry.

               Keep us up todate on Montreal's highway projects ,we appreciate the input.

                                     Have Fun & Remember Verdun

Hmmmmm Trouble in paradise ?? Turcot woes

Seems there some opposition to the big mayors plan,

    A $1.5-billion plan to refurbish the Turcot interchange is "unacceptable," flies in the face of provincial policies on sustainable development, mass transit and public health and should be scrapped, the head of Montreal's public health department said last night.

.....this is an excerpt from a story on the Turcot Plan,.in todays Gazette........

                           here's the link to the whole story:    

          http://www.montrealgazette.com/Health/Turcot+plan+would+increase+cars+risks+city+public+health+chief/1707029/story.html

 

                                                                          HF&RV

Montreal, Traffic Nightmare Could Double= YIKES!!

Today's Gazette ,has a story about the possibilty of a major traffic nightmare ,should the building of the Turcot & Bonaventure Expressways,overlaps........  I wouldn't want to be in that rush hour ,if it happens............................

It will cost $141 million and, if everything goes according to plan, be finished by 2013.

But if the city of Montreal is tearing down the elevated Bonaventure Expressway at the same time Quebec is demolishing the Turcot interchange, Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay says it's the price to pay for progress.

"Yes, there's going to be inconveniences," Tremblay said as he and Société du Havre chairperson Isabelle Hudon announced the first phase of a plan to revitalize the crumbling expressway and the neighbourhoods around it.

"But the price to pay for the status quo, the price to pay for gridlock, the price to pay for greenhouse gas emission ... for quality of life ... for leaving infrastructures that are not technologically viable (is too high).

"We can use these projects to show that public transportation is our priority. ... In the short term certain people are going to be effected. But in the medium and the long term, we're talking about the future of Montreal and we decided to move forward with these projects."

Two days ago, Tremblay told a public hearing on the $1.5-billion Turcot plan that major highway projects cannot be planned on a piecemeal basis and their effects on the entire Montreal region must be taken into account.

While the Turcot project has yet to be finalized, its crumbling state has made its demolition a priority. Should it occur within the same time frame as the Bonaventure project, traffic on the Turcot - a major east-west thoroughfare into Montreal that is used by 280,000 vehicles a day - would be reduced at the same time as on the Bonaventure, which is used by 31,000 commuters daily to get to downtown Montreal from the South Shore.

Tremblay said he had "definitely" considered the possibility that both thoroughfares might be affected at the same time, but felt the advantages outweighed the inconveniences and noted the city was co-ordinating its work with Transport Quebec, which is overseeing the Turcot project.

Originally pegged at a cost of $90 million in 2007, Hudon said the Bonaventure project's price tag increased to $141 million because of inflation and "additions" to the construction, including an 83-metre extension of the slope that would force Montreal-bound traffic to slow down as it reached the city's downtown.

Once the elevated section of the expressway is removed, traffic will be routed along Duke and Nazareth Sts., each of which will be broadened to handle four lanes of traffic. A stretch of Dalhousie St. to the west of Nazareth will be reserved for buses travelling to and from the South Shore.

Once the first phase is complete, something Tremblay estimated could be done by 2013, Phase 2 will involve turning the stretch of shore between the Victoria and Champlain bridges into green space, while the final phase will see the Peel Basin linked to the riverfront.

The first phase of the project would, theoretically, be accompanied by residential and commercial development in the area, which could generate more than $1 billion in investments.

However before any of it that can occur, public consultations will have be held on the project, something Tremblay said won't occur until this autumn.

                                                                                               HF&RV