‘Prisoners in this city!’ Construction causing hell for Châteauguay residents

Construction on Chateauguay's main highway is causing drivers to be stuck in traffic for hours on end.

Some residents in Châteauguay and the surrounding area are boiling with road rage as construction projects on the main arteries running through the suburb have left residents feeling trapped.

“We are officially prisoners in this city,” said resident Lyndzay Chartrand Lacombe. “It’s almost impossible to navigate ANYWHERE in Châteauguay at any point.”

Many say they are leaving home at 4 a.m. to get to work by 9 a.m., forced to be aggressive to get out of the driveway, taking 40 minutes to get out of town, and seeing cars backed up behind brake lights for kilometres on end.

“It’s completely ridiculous,” said resident Jean François Valade. “I leave at 5:25 a.m. to arrive in Lachine at 6:30; 30 minutes minimum to leave Chateauguay.”

The stress is mainly caused by work on the main road going through the South Shore suburb: Saint-Jean-Baptiste Boulevard (R-138).

“It’s typically the main road, really, to get anywhere within Châteauguay,” said resident Ally Voysey. “I was able to walk with my dog to Tim Hortons faster than the cars were moving.”

The nature of the work is as follows:

• Until December, one lane is open in each direction on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Boulevard between Rodrigue Street and Saint-Francis Boulevard.
• Until Oct. 31, one lane is open in each direction on Saint-Francis Boulevard between Saint-Jean-Baptiste Boulevard and 389 Saint-Francis.
• Starting Nov. 1 and ending Dec. 19, Saint-Francis and Industrial boulevards will be completely closed between Saint-Jean-Baptiste Boulevard and the Notre Futur daycare centre.

Voysey said condo construction on Saint-Francis added to the frustration when crews closed lanes to lay pipes.

In addition, traffic lights have all been switched to flashing reds throughout the construction zones, which many residents have complained about.

“I’m not sure why they decided to turn the lights off,” said Voysey. “Not only did it create longer traffic delays, but it made it very unsafe.”

She said typically drivers are frustrated being in traffic in the area, but with the new configurations, the situation has been amplified.

“A lot of people who are coming home from work, or just off the island in general, are really impatient because they’ve been sitting in traffic for so long, or they’re in a rush, and with the lights having been turned off, I find a lot of the people who are coming to Châteauguay -- again, they’re in a rush, they’re impatient... the general rules of driving aren’t necessarily being adhered to,” she said. “It’s created a little bit of a hazard over there.”

Headaches for Kahnawake residents

In the evening, traffic heading south backs up through neighbouring Kahanwake and even into the Lachine borough in Montreal past the Honoré-Mercier Bridge.

Coming off the Mercier Bridge, motorists are advised to head east on Route 132 to Highway 30 to avoid Route 138. That detour adds at least 10 kilometres to any commuter’s drive heading west of the bridge.

David Lahache is the transportation coordinator at the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) and said drivers often try to avoid Route 138 by taking Route 207 through the community to get to Highway 30, which adds vehicles to an already congested area.

“In the a.m., the traffic heading south prevents vehicles heading to the bridge and creates more delays in the morning,” he said. “The Peacekeepers needed two officers at both ends of 207 to properly control the flow.”

In addition, some Chateauguay residents are travelling on the two-lane Old-Chateauguay Road.

“We now see more traffic in the morning before 6 a.m., and in the afternoon rush hour,” said Lahache. “We see a steady stream of traffic throughout the day and night now.”

To the east, Route 132 is backed up in the a.m., Lahache said, and drivers are cutting through residential areas to bypass traffic.

“The city really should have started this project in May or June, when traffic volume is lighter,” he added. “To start this project at the beginning of the school year was really a faux pas on their part! The lack of proper traffic management on their side is also adding to the problem.”

Population growing, infrastructure trailing behind

The work is part of a “modernization project” to realign Saint-Francis and Industrial boulevards and make Industrial a four-lane road. In addition, the work hopes to address previous traffic issues at the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Boulevard - Route 132/138 intersection.

“The project is also perfectly consistent with future developments planned in the sector according to the “TOD” (transit-oriented development) orientation, which relies on the proximity of a public transport hub, namely the Châteauguay terminus of exo,” the city said on its page.

The city recommends avoiding the area, working from home or taking Highway 30 if heading for the Mercier Bridge.

“These alternatives aren’t possible for many people,” said Vorsey. “They’re asking us to spend more time and money on travel for an undetermined amount of time (anywhere from December 2025 - 2027). The public transportation system, which hasn’t been adequate to support the city on a good day, has been severely affected by this traffic as well, since the main bus terminal is located right in the middle of this construction. Some people have reported public transportation taking from 1.5-2.5 hours just to get downtown.”

Chartrand Lacombe added that residential areas are being completely blocked by traffic.

“There is no police presence to help guide traffic,” she said. “Construction everywhere, with barely any access to anything... You’re either stuck here or unable to come back into the city for hours at a time! They decided to do this construction now instead of during the summer when there is less traffic. It is completely unmanageable.”

Vorysey grew up in the city and said that the infrastructure in the city cannot handle the population growth.

In Chateauguay alone, the population has risen from just over 41,000 in 2001 to over 50,000 in 2021, according to Statistics Canada.

The Quebec Statistics Institute said that growth in the greater Montérégie reached highs of 1.6 per cent between 2022 and 2023.

“I feel like the infrastructure in Chateauguay isn’t really meant to take on so many people,” she said. “As the population grows, there are a lot of bigger problems that aren’t necessarily being addressed... The fact that we pay a lot of taxes here in comparison to other municipalities, and we have very little to show for it in terms of social programs or community programs and things like that. So while a lot of people are moving to the South Shore, and it is great for a lot of different reasons, I’m not sure if the prioritization of projects is being made properly. It’s causing us a great headache.”