On Oct. 5, 2011, the Government of Canada announced the new Champlain Bridge corridor project, one of the largest infrastructure projects in North America. The corridor-wide project not only includes the new Champlain bridge, but a new Île-des-Soeurs Bridge and reconstruction and widening of the federal portion of Autoroute 15. The new bridge is designed to have three corridors, including two three-lane corridors for vehicular traffic and a twolane transit corridor capable of accommodating a light rail transit system. The new bridge will also include a multi-use path for pedestrians and cyclists.
In August of 2017, the first phase of steel work on the Jacques Cartier Bridge was completed, marking a major milestone for the project. This phase of the project involved the replacement of four braces and eight bottom chords, while 150 gusset plates and 17 diagonals were reinforced. Also, approximately 100,000 rivets were also replaced with bolts.
In October of 2018, Infrastructure Canada announced that the structure would be in place by the original deadline of Dec. 21, 2018, but that certain finishing works would not be completed until the spring of 2019, and the bridge will officially open to traffic in June of 2019.
