Construction paused near boundary

The project in Chateauguay near Kahnawake that has caused much spilled ink, online toxicity, and extraordinary measures to combat traffic in and around Kahnawake, has now paused for the holidays.

On Monday night, all of the lanes on St. Jean Baptiste Boulevard, as well as the entirety of St. Francis and Industrial Boulevards, have been reopened to traffic, after having been closed since the start of the project in September. St. Jean Baptiste Boulevard is also a designated urban portion of Highways 132 and 138.

The stated goal of the project is to make St. Jean Baptiste Boulevard a four lane “urban boulevard,” complete some work started in 2020 that needs to be redone in the area, and realign St. Francis and Industrial Boulevards to form one intersection. Prior to the start of the project, the two boulevards did not feed into St. Jean Baptiste in a way that allowed fluid circulation, resulting in traffic.

The work itself has, as noted, resulted in a lot of traffic in the first weeks of construction.

Even still, despite efforts from the city of Chateauguay to mitigate the damage by having police control the flow of cars during rush hour, drivers were left waiting hours to pass through a few hundred metres of road on the 132/138.

As a result, many chose to cut through Kahnawake, taking Route 207, Old Malone Highway, and Old Chateauguay Road to try and avoid the bottleneck.

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK), the Kahnawake Peacekeepers, and even private residents took measures to try and prevent the explosion of cars in the community.

The 207 is now closed to all drivers every weekday morning from 5:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.; Kahnawake Peacekeepers have been posted during the late afternoon and early evening rush hour to make sure drivers coming off the Mercier Bridge, Highway 132/138, and the 207 were locals or supposed to be in Kahnawake, not just passing through to save time; and some residents have taken upon themselves to do the same at the intersection in front of Karonhianónhnha Tsi Ionterihwaienstáhkhwa school.

The multimillion-dollar project is not fully done yet, though.

According to the city of Chateauguay’s website, the next phase of work will begin in January, when one lane will be closed on St. Jean Baptiste Boulevard to do work on a pumping station until March. Then, from March to June, St. Jean Baptiste Boulevard will go back down to one lane in each direction and Industrial Boulevard will become a one-way road as work is finalized on the new intersection.

From June to November, work will continue on Industrial, but all other closures are set to be finished.

All work timelines are subject to change, per the city.

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