Turcot Interchange Reconstruction: LaSalle's Elected Officials Denounce the Closure of Boulevard Angrignon in 2019

LASALLE, QC, Sept. 6, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - At the Borough Council meeting held on September 4, LaSalle's elected officials considered unacceptable the project of the Ministère des Transport, de la Mobilité durable et de l'Électrification des transports (MTMDET) to close boulevard Angrignon almost completely throughout 2019, as part of the reconstruction work for the Turcot interchange. This project is in addition to the already initiated closure of access to Autoroute 15 from boulevard De La Vérendrye, beginning in December 2018, for a period of 300 days. According to elected officials, these simultaneous closures would cause many inconveniences for LaSalle residents?including the fact that both residents and local businesses would be hemmed in, as a result.

With a commercial sector comprising more than 800 businesses and restaurants and generating more than 8,000 jobs, LaSalle will be deeply affected by this MTMDET project, which would compromise the economic activities of the entire borough. "Boulevard Angrignon is the main gateway to the Borough and provides access to the Angrignon-Newman commercial sector, one of the five largest suburban commercial centres on the island of Montréal," stressed Mayor Manon Barbe.

This project will also jeopardize the vitality of more than 200 manufacturing companies, because of the new constraints it would impose on trucking in the sector. In fact, the scenarios submitted by the MTMDET provide either one-way access to enter or exit the Borough or two-way access with a ban on all heavy vehicles.

Since LaSalle is already hemmed in by the Lachine Canal, Autoroute 20, Parc Angrignon and the St. Lawrence River, this project could worsen the present situation with regard to the mobility of goods and people within the territory. The lack of heavy public transit also contributes to this mobility problem since, for 40 years, successive governments have ignored LaSalle residents' persistent demand to extend the Green Metro Line to serve their territory. 

However, the obstruction of the road network was already a major issue in LaSalle, particularly due to the abundance of major reconstruction work on the territory and the annual closures of the Honoré-Mercier bridge?factors that the MTMDET project doesn't seem to take into account. "Since the beginning of the planning for the Turcot project in 2009, the Borough of LaSalle has been very cooperative despite the many constraints that this has entailed for local traffic," stated the Mayor. "Now this is the last straw that breaks the camel's back."

Given this context, the Borough Council members denounced the MTMDET project as unreasonable considering the fact that it will very significantly isolate all parties concerned on the territory. The Council members emphasized the great lack of consideration shown by this government department in designing such a project, which compromises both the free movement of goods and people in LaSalle and the economic prosperity of the sector's businesses and industries. Council is also concerned that this worksite will be detrimental to the circulation of emergency vehicles, due to anticipated traffic congestion. In light of these facts, LaSalle's elected officials are asking André Fortin, Minister of Transport, Sustainable Mobility and Transport Electrification, to ensure that boulevard Angrignon is not closed until the MTMDET has proposed a suitable alternate solution for the many motorists and truckers on the territory.

SOURCE Arrondissement de LaSalle