Turcot Interchange
Encyclopedia
Interchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
within the city of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, that links Autoroutes 15
Quebec Autoroute 15
Autoroute 15 is a highway in western Quebec, Canada...
, 20
Quebec Autoroute 20
Autoroute 20 is a major Quebec Autoroute, following the Saint Lawrence River through one of the more densely-populated parts of Canada, and is part of the Trans-Canada Highway. At , it is the longest Autoroute in Quebec...
, and 720
Quebec Autoroute 720
Autoroute 720 , known as the Ville-Marie Expressway or Autoroute Ville-Marie is an Autoroute highway in the Canadian province of Quebec that is a spur route of Autoroute 20 in Montreal...
. It takes its name from the currently-abandoned Turcot rail yards over which it is built.
At this stack interchange west of downtown, the Ville-Marie Expressway
Quebec Autoroute 720
Autoroute 720 , known as the Ville-Marie Expressway or Autoroute Ville-Marie is an Autoroute highway in the Canadian province of Quebec that is a spur route of Autoroute 20 in Montreal...
, the Décarie Expressway
Quebec Autoroute 15
Autoroute 15 is a highway in western Quebec, Canada...
, the Champlain Bridge
Champlain Bridge (Montreal)
The Champlain Bridge is a steel truss cantilever bridge with approach viaducts constructed of prestressed concrete beams supporting a prestressed concrete deck paved with asphalt...
, and Autoroute 20 all come together.
History
The interchange was projected as part of the first Montreal highway in 1958 and planned to bind it to the Decarie freeway, also designed at the same time. Construction started in October 1965 and Turcot was built in time for the 1967 Montreal ExpoExpo 67
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...
, along with other big projects such as the Montreal Metro
Montreal Metro
The Montreal Metro is a rubber-tired metro system, and the main form of public transportation underground in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada....
.
Upon its erection, an old railroad yard belonging to the Grand Trunk Company (today merged into Canadian National) served as location for the interchange and was 1/4 shortened, which required the demolition of a roundhouse
Roundhouse
A roundhouse is a building used by railroads for servicing locomotives. Roundhouses are large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent to turntables...
. In 1969, upon reviewing the situation, city authorities have concluded that the project abused of unnecessary space and could have coexisted perfectly alongside the buildings that were otherwise demolished (including some 20 residences).
When originally constructed the interchange was built high above the ground as a dramatic demonstration of Montreal's status as a modern global metropolis and to accommodate ships passing through the Lachine Canal
Lachine Canal
The Lachine Canal is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroughs of Lachine, Lasalle and Sud-Ouest.The canal gets its name from the French word for China...
.
The construction of the freeway junction was said to be rushed during the 1960s boom, with a lack of drainage and permeable concrete, and as of the 2000s it is in poor condition with pieces of concrete slabs falling from overpass structures.
In 2000, more than 300,000 vehicles used the interchange on a daily basis, a number that was not expected within its original design (which was planned for 50-60,000 vehicles maximum).
Reconstruction plans
In June 2007, the Quebec government announced the demolition and reconstruction of the structure, projected to be complete in 2016. The announcement came four years after a study on the interchange showed the Turcot structure was crumbling, with reports of concrete slabs up to one square metre falling from the overpasses. In addition to a new interchange built lower to the ground, a large segment of Autoroute 20 would be rebuilt more to the north. Reconstruction of the interchange is expected to cost between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion.Controversy
Around the time of its announcement, the project created controversy as to how Turcot should be rebuilt. Local residents and community groups have come out against the project as proposed by the government, claiming that it will worsen pollution, increase automobile traffic downtown, and require the demolition of housing including a significant portion of the Village des Tanneries neighborhood.The project's environmental hearings ended June 19, 2009. They revealed new plans for the area by CN, as well as strong public desire to protect existing communities, rethink the modal balance of Montreal's urban transportation, and plan realistically for a future of energy shortages and environmental crisis.
The project itself is currently frozen in the pre-production phase. After conducting several environmental and technical impact researches by MDDEP in early Summer of 2009, construction plans have been furthermore halted because of the 2009 financial crisis, which led Transports Québec to delay the project at least until September 2010, without further notice.
Second project
In April 2010, the city of Montreal has gathered all previous commentary reviewed by BAPE and announced a different reconstruction project, in which the railroad tracks and the main body of the A-20 are kept at their original location, the height of the interchange is basically maintained (but replaced with better-lasting materials), while the former Turcot Yards serve as ground for a new urban redevelopment district with its own communitarian aspect. The cost of such proposition was set to at least $5 billion CAD, which is at least three times that of the original."If this project is to replace the original", stated the minister of Transports Quebec, Julie Boulet, "we can expect at least two more years of stalling", suggesting that Turcot should not be seen as a sandbox for any kind of proposals coming from all levels of the government. According to Gerald Tremblay, the mayor of Montreal, this is exactly the time necessary to prepare for the works, which have now been postponed into the 1st half of 2012.
See also
- Grade separationGrade separationGrade separation is the method of aligning a junction of two or more transport axes at different heights so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other transit routes when they cross each other. The composition of such transport axes does not have to be uniform; it can consist of a...
- Stack interchangeStack interchangeA stack interchange is a free-flowing grade separated junction between two roads.In countries where one drives on the right, left turns are handled by semi-directional flyover/under ramps...
- InterchangeInterchange (road)In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
- Spaghetti JunctionSpaghetti Junction"Spaghetti Junction" is a nickname sometimes given to a complicated or massively intertwined road traffic interchange that resembles a plate of spaghetti. The term is believed to have been coined by a journalist at the Birmingham Evening Mail in the 1970s to refer to the Gravelly Hill Interchange...
- Freeway
- Virtual tour showing the dilapidated state of Turcot interchange