St-Jacques overpass demolition delayed for sewer work

Major construction on the St-Jacques overpass in lower Notre-Dame-de-Grce scheduled to take place in July has been delayed.

• Montreal delays planned roadwork on Dcarie Blvd. in NDG
• St-Jacques ramp closure in NDG expected to cause headaches
• New Turcot will come later and cost more

Transports Qubec spokeswoman Sarah Bensadoun said the department needs to finish analyzing and complete work on the St-Pierre collector sewer before the overpass can be torn down and reconfigured to fit in with the new Turcot Interchange.

We need to ensure the lifespan of the collector and we need to do some work, Bensadoun said.

The collector sewer work was originally scheduled for winter, but Bensadoun said more snow than expected prevented them from doing a proper analysis until May.

Mitigation measures

The $55-million contract for rebuilding the St-Jacques overpass was signed in February. The overpass will be demolished in order for the Turcot to be lowered.

Bensadoun said Transports Qubec is still finalizing the details of the work on the St-Pierre collector and the closure of the St-Jacques overpass.

Once the department gives the green light to close the overpass, it will remain closed for approximately two years.

Bensadoun said mitigation measures will be put in place before the overpasss imminent closure.

Those include opening a new De Maisonneuve exit on the southbound Dcarie Expressway that was originally built as anaccess to the newMUHC superhospital.

Transports Qubec will also reopen a road at the Sherbrooke Street exit on the northbound Dcarie which will allow cars to exit onto Addington, which connects to De Maisonneuve.

Other roadwork in the area is expected to wrap up soon, as well.

Residents living 'in hell'

Still, the delay in work on the St-Jacques overpass is just a temporary reprieve for residents living in the area.

Suzanne Brisson has lived on Prud'hommeAvenue just north of the overpass for 20 years. She said she is not looking forward to the work.

She expects to live "in hell" for the duration of the work and fears her small street will turn into a major traffic thoroughfare.