Faced with stressful commutes no thanks to the Ile-aux-Tourtes Bridge closure, one Rigaud company is using the traffic headache as a recruiting tool.
Fleury Michon Amerique, a company providing catering for in-flight services, has put up a billboard on Highway 40 near Hudson. It says 'Take the Stress-Free Lane.'
"We decided to use the issue surrounding the Ile-aux-Tourtes and to put up a sign attracting people that, 'Are you fed up of this traffic?' So maybe you can stay in the region… so don't cross the border up the bridge every morning every night," said Julie Dunn, vice-president of the company. "Just stay and find a good job, a good opportunity here in Vaudreuil, in Rigaud."
Of their 400 employees, half commute across the bridge and they need to attract local talent.
The Vaudreuil-Soulanges Chamber of Commerce is studying how the lane closures and traffic are changing residents' habits and the impacts on local businesses.
"It is a problem," said Mathieu Miljours, general manager of the business group. "A lot of customers are from the West Island. They don't want to come here anymore. Some workers from the west side, in or other parts of the Montreal area, they are not willing to come work here anymore."
Every time there is a closure, it costs time and money, said Liberal MNA Marwah Rizqy.
"And some of them, they cannot make it on time because they're stuck in traffic. So this is like there's a cost," she said. "And we saw also the truckers, a lot of them, a commute that takes usually seven minutes can takes hours now. So this is not normal."
Quebec Premier Francois Legault said some of his family uses the bridge and he knows the work will take years.
"Unfortunately there is no perfect answer. Reconstruction of the region must have been done a long time ago, but unfortunately, during the reconstruction, it will continue," he said.
