The Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel, which connects Montreal to the South Shore, will be under construction until the fall of 2025, Quebec City announced Thursday afternoon, following an update of the construction plans. .
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The Minister of Transport, François Bonnardel, indicated during a press briefing that the structure required more repairs because of the damage observed. “There is 60% more degradation than expected at the tunnel vault,” he said.
The work announced Thursday consists in particular of the repair of the concrete slabs in Highway 25 in both directions, a “major structural” revision, the redevelopment of the service corridors as well as the addition of fire protection.
Three lanes out of six would be closed from November 2022 to November 2025. Two lanes heading towards Montreal will remain open while only one will lead towards the South Shore, until 2025.
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The office of the Minister of Transport believes that “closing one traffic tube at a time” will allow the work to be carried out “most efficiently, without prolonging major hindrances for several years”.
“Renovating an old road infrastructure is a bit like renovating an old house. Sometimes we have very bad surprises, and this is the case here,” said Minister Bonnardel in a press release.
The Minister also undertook “that all means be put in place (…) to minimize the repercussions of this work on users”.
Quebec affirms that the work will ensure the durability of the infrastructure for 40 years without any other major intervention, once the operations are completed.
It should be remembered that approximately 120,000 vehicles travel there daily, 13% of which are freight trucks, “which makes it the crossing between the South Shore and Montreal that is the most used for the transport of goods”.