Traffic delays as lanes closed on downtown Montreal expressway

Commuters driving west into downtown Montreal on Friday morning faced delays as two of the four lanes on Highway 720 were closed by Transport Quebec because of concerns over a pillar supporting the highway.

Transport Quebec also banned trucks weighing more than 12 tonnes from using part of the expressway.

It made the decision Thursday afternoonafter an inspector noticed serious deterioration on a pillar supporting the highway known as the Ville-Marie Expressway.

Transport Quebec spokesman Mario St-Pierre said the expressway is down to two lanes along a 300-metre stretch starting at Green Avenue.

St-Pierre said the public should not take this as a sign that Quebec's roads and highways are unsafe.

"This shows that Transport Quebec is monitoring the situation, and is taking the appropriate action quickly. Of course all renovations, all road construction, will cause some disturbance. But it's the disturbance we have to create in order to repair and make it very safe," St-Pierre said.

He could not say when the lanes would be reopened, or when heavy trucks would be allowed back on that section of the highway.

The 8.5-kilometre expressway was built in 1972.