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Montreal motorists are finally getting some good news. After three and a half years of construction, the St-Jacques overpass is now partially open.

“I feel great,” said Crystal Gomez, who lives right next to the new bridge.

“It’s a good feeling.” Tweet This

People driving on St-Jacques Street can finally cross over the Decarie Expressway again on a shiny new bridge that’s almost complete.

“NDG has been waiting a long time for the St-Jacques bridge to reopen,” said NDG city councillor Peter McQueen.

Detours have become routine for people in the area.

“Many times I’d have to re-route just to get into my own house,” recounted Gomez.

At Nelson Garage just up the street from the work site, the construction affected business.

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“It’s definitely been not easy for customers and clients to get here and drop their car off,” explained service manager Kevin Piper.

Back in 2015 the old bridge was closed as part of the new Turcot project. In 2016, it was dismantled. In May 2018, some of the biggest parts of the new bridge were put in place, and now it’s mostly open.

READ MORE: Turcot construction: Big chunk of new St-Jacques overpass slides into place

“It’s a partial open,” said Transports Québec spokesman Martin Girard. “Two lanes toward west and one lane toward east will be available, as well as the sidewalk on the north side.”

The bridge should have been fully operational by now, but there were delays.

“With all the weather and frozen ground we had in the past weeks, it was difficult to finish all the work,” said Girard. Tweet This

There were also unforeseen problems with some of the city’s water infrastructure.

“A couple of years ago, they had to do some work on the collector because it was not strong enough to support the new bridge,” Girard explained.

That is all in the past now and there’s a lot of excitement in the area about what Transports Québec calls a “signature piece” of the Turcot project.

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READ MORE: Highway 20 East now has 3 lanes open between Angrignon exit and Turcot Interchange

“This immediately means less traffic on Sherbrooke and Girouard, less traffic on Upper Lachine and less traffic on de Maisonneuve,” said Peter McQueen.

The bridge will partially open until spring, when work to complete it will begin. McQueen thinks even with a partially open bridge, traffic will flow smoothly.

Transports Québec has another Christmas gift for Montreal drivers. There will be no Turcot ramp closures over the holidays. Workers will be off until Jan. 7.