Traffic, transit headaches imminent as Pie-IX bus lane project ramps up

Development of thereserved bus laneon Pie-IX Boulevard will have a major impact on motorists, transit users and residents as of March 18.

During the first two phases of work, from spring 2019 to fall 2020, two southbound lanes will be open at all times, but only one northbound lane will be in use.

The work will first be carried out on the west side of the boulevard and will switch to the west side in March 2020.

The "bus rapid transit" route, known as theBRTproject, will span 11 kilometres along Pie-IX between Pierre-DeCoubertinAvenue in Montreal to Saint-Martin Boulevard in Laval.

Workers will tackle the job site section by section one block at a time replacingsewer, water and gas lines; buildingelectrical infrastructure; rebuilding the roadway; refurbishing sidewalks; replacinglighting and improvinglandscaping.

To improve traffic flow going north,buses on lines 41, 139 and 439 will largely avoid Pie-IX Boulevard, running on routes that take streets mostly to the east. Trips on those routeswill be extended by about 10 minutes.

Local residents will have to endure work from 7 am to 7 pm, however work maybe extended into the evening,night or on weekends as necessary. Officialssay there will benoise, vibrations and dust, but they say mitigation measures will be put in place.

During the first two phases of the project, residents will also be able to park their cars on Pie-IX Boulevard withinsections that are not under construction.

However, this won't be possible during the third phase of the work, which is slated tobegin in March 2021, according to aschedule shown during a technical briefing at Ministry of Transport (MTQ) offices onThursday.

The third phase will be particularly problematic for motorists and public transit users because there will beonly one lane open in each direction, until the BRT opens in late 2022.

In all, the work will last four years a"very tight" schedule, according to officials.

The MTQ, Montreal's regional transit authority (ARTM) and the STM, the city's public transit agency,are collectivelyrunning the project.