Published at 1:21 am. Updated at 7:00 a.m.
Users of Montreal’s two main bridges may have to wait for the next few years as Ottawa plans major projects around them.
The federal corporation that manages the Jacques-Cartier and Samuel-De Champlain bridges recently announced that it intends to convert the Bonaventure Highway into an urban boulevard between 2025 and 2029. This project involves the complete demolition of the current structure. The project had been in the works for almost a decade. Goals: Give Montrealers back the banks of the St. Lawrence River and calm traffic on this artery.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY JACQUES-CARTIER AND CHAMPLAIN BRIDGES INCORPORATED (JCCBI)
Concept for converting the Bonaventure Expressway into an urban boulevard
“We are currently in the design phase, the drawings are being created. We also have work to strengthen banks that will be carried out from 2024,” confirmed Nathalie Lessard, spokesperson for Jacques-Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated (PJCCI). The new artery will replace Carrie-Derrick Street, a few dozen meters into the island’s interior.
It’s really a conversion of a highway into a boulevard. We are changing the landscape in this sector. The lanes will be moved away from the waterfront to create a 2.5 kilometer corridor.
Nathalie Lessard, spokesperson for Jacques-Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated
Bonaventure will maintain three lanes in each direction, but the speed limit will drop to 37 mph under current plans. “We have decided to maintain full capacity in this sector,” Ms Lessard said.
The new “green corridor will include a new 4-meter-wide cycle path as well as a dedicated pedestrian path,” JCCBI states in the description of the project, which it just published online in the Canadian Property Assessment Register. Effects. “On the other side of the boulevard, a sidewalk will run along the lanes toward the Samuel De Champlain Bridge. » Around 650 trees are to be planted.
The companies CIMA+, AECOM and Daoust Lestage are at the drawing board.
Major work under the Jacques Cartier Bridge
Workers will also be active near the Jacques Cartier Bridge in the coming years.
JCCBI also announced this week that major renovation work will begin on the Île Sainte-Hélène Pavilion, the iconic Art Deco building that supports the Jacques Cartier Bridge.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
The pavilion of Île Sainte-Hélène, under the Jacques Cartier Bridge
“Over the years, numerous renovations have ensured the sustainability of this over 90-year-old building. Today, the pavilion shows signs of damage that requires new work,” the federal contractor diagnosed in a filing with the Canadian Impact Assessment Registry.
“The aim of this project is therefore to extend the lifespan of the pavilion by 75 years while maintaining the main function of the building as a deck of a bridge section,” the description continues. “In order for this work to be carried out on the pavilion, short and long term traffic restrictions will be required. These obstacles will give entrepreneurs the space they need. »
Constructed in the early 1930s, the building was intended to not only support the bridge, but also serve as an exhibition hall and ballroom, but these projects were never completed.
The work campaign initiated by JCCBI does not provide for the interior design of this building.
“It is difficult to occupy this pavilion because since it is a structural element of the bridge, there is enormous noise and constant vibrations inside,” said Nathalie Lessard. Sound insulation that you can hardly imagine. »
The announcement of these federal projects comes in addition to the numerous projects on the metropolis’ major highways. The renovation of the Louis Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel must last until the end of 2025. The Quebec Ministry of Transport will then have to carry out the reconstruction of the metropolitan highway in its elevated part.
The story so far
1964
Inauguration of the above-ground portion of the Bonaventure Highway
2005
First proposal to relocate the highway so that it opens up the riverside path for pedestrians
2017
The city of Montreal is transforming its section of the artery into an urban boulevard.
2023
In its budget, Ottawa approves funding for the redevelopment of the federal portion of the highway.