Montreal’s Île-aux-Tourtes bridge will gradually open over the coming weeks, starting with one lane per direction starting May 31 and running at full capacity by June 21. The bridge was closed last Thursday because the Quebec Ministry of Transport found major defects.

Quebec’s transport minister Francois Bonnardel outlined the plan to reopen the bridge on Tuesday, saying in a statement that “more than 100 people worked hard over the long weekend to quickly arrive at this intervention plan allowing the partial reopening of the bridge safely as of May 31.”

Damaged rods will be replaced, additional external reinforcement will be added and crews will continue reinforcing support beams with a carbon-fibre polymer.

Truckers affected

The crossing is used by motorists, including trucks, when traveling west of the Montreal island and to Ontario. Every day, 87,000 vehicles use the bridge, of which 12% are heavy vehicles, according to 2019 data.

Traffic has been diverted by Highways 20 and 30. The transport ministry has cancelled the toll on Highway 30.

The reopening plan will be as follows:

• May 31: One lane per direction
• June 7: Two lanes in the peak direction and one lane in the off-peak direction
• June 14: Two lanes per direction
• June 21: Three lanes per direction (full capacity)