Champlain Bridge to open under official new name

The Champlain Bridge officially has a new name

The federal government has confirmed that when the new Champlain Bridge opens it will have a new, albeit familiar, name.

The bridge that will link Montreal to the South Shore, will officially be known as the Samuel de Champlain Bridge, the full name of the French explorer the bridge is named after.

According to a press release, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, visited the newly-named bridge today where he thanked the workers who have reached an important milestone in what is one of the largest infrastructure projects in North America.

With the last segments in place, the Samuel de Champlain Bridge structure is now almost complete, spanning the entire 3.4 kilometres between the South Shore and Montreal.

The new name follows the example of other bridges in Montreal, which include the full names of the people they honour. Samuel De Champlain is an important historical figure for Canada, Quebec, and the Montreal region whose exploration and mapping activities were vital to building Canada.

www.newchamplain.ca

“It is a privilege to walk on the deck of the bridge that will soon connect travellers between Montreal and the South Shore with these proud and dedicated workers,” says Champagne.
“With the completion of this critical milestone the project is moving another step closer to being open to traffic by June 2019, at the latest. The new Samuel De Champlain Bridge is one of the largest worksites in North America, and one of the most modern in terms of engineering and urban integration.”

The naming decision was made following stakeholder and public consultations conducted earlier in 2018.

The new bridge was originally supposed to open to traffic on December 1, but the date has been pushed back to June 2019.

Before then, crews will require many days of warm, dry weather before taking the final necessary steps to complete the structure.

See also