A small crack was discovered on the Honoré-Mercier Bridge in Montreal, prompting the indefinite closure of its left lane toward Montreal. Transports Québec inspectors found a small crack in one of the steel beams holding up the structure while paint work was underway under the bridge on Tuesday. The closure aims to reduce the load on the section of the bridge with the crack. “A team was brought in to do some analysis and investigate, and they deemed that, out of precaution, they were going to close the left lane on the inbound bridge,” said Louis-André Bertrand, a Transports Québec spokesperson. Traffic is reduced to one lane for a couple hundred metres, near the middle of the bridge. Quebec’s Transport Ministry advises the public to use Québec 511, its online tool for checking road closures and traffic conditions, for the latest updates. Starting Oct. 15, tolls on Highway 30 heading west will be suspended during the weekday morning rush hour from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The bridge is over 90 years old — part of the structure is federal while the other is provincial. Transports Québec says it plans to replace its section of the bridge, but the project is still in the early stages. “Studies and surveys still need to be done, so we don’t have a timeline for it, but it’s still in planning mode. In the meantime, the maintenance work is done,” said Bertrand. With files from CTV News’ Matt Gilmour
