The Honoré-Mercier Bridge, named after a former Québec premier, crosses the St. Lawrence River and Seaway, linking the LaSalle Borough on Montréal Island and the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory on the South Shore. Part of Route 138, it was the fourth bridge built connecting Montréal and the South Shore and was completed in 1934.
It consists of two structures: the first, for westbound traffic, was built in the early 1930s, while the eastbound segment was completed in the 1960s.
Reopening of upstream (westbound) structure
Ministère des Transports reopened the upstream structure of the Honoré-Mercier Bridge to westbound traffic on September 6, 2011. One lane will be open most of the time on the upstream structure and two lanes will be open at all times on the downstream structure.
In the early evening on June 14, MDT closed the upstream structure (toward Châteauguay) when new analyses indicated some degradation of the steel components and serious degradation of 10 gusset plates. These plates join a number of vertical and diagonal members beneath the bridge. They are located at the panel point of many members and support all components of the bridge. Replacing them—which first required designing and fabricating the steel parts—was a complex task.
Part of the Honoré-Mercier Bridge was temporarily closed, with reopening scheduled for early fall, as directed by Minister of Transport Sam Hamad.
Traffic management
The Honoré-Mercier Bridge is now configured to allow at least one lane to remain open to traffic in each direction.
Du lundi au vendredi, la gestion de la circulation se fait en quatre temps :
Two lanes toward Montréal and one lane toward the South Shore
5 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Monday to Friday
One lane toward Montréal and two lanes toward the South Shore
12:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Wednesday
12:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., Thursday and Friday
One lane in each direction
9 p.m. to 4 a.m., Monday to Wednesday
11 p.m. to 4 a.m., Thursday and Friday
Weekends and holidays
Three lanes will therefore remain open, except nights and weekends, so that steel component reinforcement work can continue and the fourth traffic lane can be opened by December 2011.
Bridge now open to westbound heavy vehicle traffic
As part of the new configuration, the upstream (westbound) structure, which had been closed to heavy vehicle traffic since December 29, 2010, is now open to heavy vehicles.
Mobility in the metropolitan area
In light of the challenges involved in the mobility of people and the transportation of goods in the metropolitan area, and considering the economic costs of traffic congestion, Minister of Transport Sam Hamad and Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) Chair and Montréal Mayor Gérald Tremblay jointly announced on June 22, 2011, the establishment of a committee bringing together decision makers and key stakeholders in the transportation sector. The committee was tasked with planning and coordinating the work and various mitigation measures required for the different projects (federal, provincial, and municipal).
On August 25, 2011, Minister Sam Hamad announced measures representing some $110 million in government funding to mitigate traffic congestion in the Montréal metropolitan area. Most of these measures will be implemented by early September.
The mitigation plan has three main thrusts:
Enhanced public transit services
Developments to support roadwork
Improved communication with road users
This includes use of the Champlain Bridge ice control structure, reserved for empty buses going against traffic as well as emergency vehicles; implementation of public transit services in response to demand; better coordination of road network projects; and improved tools for communicating with citizens.
“The government and its partners have taken action to find solutions that will lessen the impact of the congestion,” said Mr. Hamad. “Let’s be clear: we are not claiming to control the congestion. However, we want to mitigate it at a high-traffic time of year during peak road construction season. Today we are putting in place a series of measures, most of which will be implemented in the very short term and will allow users to better plan their travel, be better informed on the road, and use public transit more frequently.”
It should be noted that the Honoré-Mercier Bridge is undergoing the biggest reconstruction project ever undertaken in Canada. Arising from a tripartite agreement between the federal and provincial governments and the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, this project is divided into two phases: Contract A and Contract B. It is unusual for two levels of government and a Mohawk community to enter into such a large-scale agreement—the first of its kind in the country. Once completed, the Honoré-Mercier improvement project will extend the bridge’s life by approximately 75 years.
Contract A, awarded to the Mohawk Bridge Consortium, includes replacement of the deck on the three elevated ramps on the Kahnawake Territory. The consortium will also be repairing and reinforcing the steel in the bridge superstructure.
Contract B, awarded to Pomerleau, Demathieu et Bard S.E.N.C., essentially consists of completely replacing the deck.
