Construction site not authorized by the City: Hydro-Québec apologizes for causing a traffic jam during rush hour in Montreal

Hydro-Québec apologizes for causing headaches for motorists with its construction site not authorized by the City which obstructed the exit from the Jacques-Cartier Bridge during rush hour Monday morning in Montreal.

“We are sorry for the inconvenience caused by the construction this morning. Our instructions are not to obstruct traffic on major arteries, particularly the mouths of bridges, during rush hours,” recognized Jonathan Côté, spokesperson for Hydro-Québec.

The state company carried out repair work on the underground network on Avenue De Lorimier on Monday morning. These blocked two of the three northbound lanes, just outside the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, used every day by tens of thousands of people.

The construction site generated a major traffic jam at this nerve center of the metropolis.

Not allowed

Contacted by The JournalHydro-Québec confirms having made a blunder.

“The instructions at Hydro-Québec are not to obstruct – or as little as possible – the arteries with high traffic density as well as the entrances and exits of bridges, during peak hours. Better coordination would have prevented this unfortunate situation,” explained Mr. Côté.

Furthermore, the work was never authorized by the Ville-Marie district.

“The borough would have requested site mobilization outside peak hours or on weekends. The City has, however, spoken over the past few hours with Hydro-Québec on this subject in order to ensure that such a situation does not happen again,” Hugo Bourgoin, spokesperson, said on Monday afternoon. of the City of Montreal.

1000 interventions per month

The City’s Mobility Squad, responsible for improving traffic in Montreal, intervened at the site around 10 a.m. Monday.

It did not completely remove the obstacle, but rather reduced it to a path “in collaboration” with Hydro-Québec, mentioned Jonathan Côté.

Hydro-Québec says it carries out more than 1,000 interventions per month on the island of Montreal to ensure the quality of electrical service, a number that excludes outages.