Commuters shouldn't see rapid Highway 40 reopening as precedent, Quebec says

The rapid reopening of Highway 40's westbound lanes after Tuesday's tanker truck fire should not be seen as a precedent for the pace of other road work projects in the city, Quebec's Transport Ministry says.

Ministry spokeswoman Sarah Bensadoun said the closure of the lanesaround St-Denis Street, followingthe fire and explosions, was an "emergency situation" given the roadway's importance as one of Montreal's primary traffic arteries.

• Highway 40 completely reopens after around-the-clock repairs

"This is a very strategic area. We're talking over 200,000 vehicles a day. We wanted to do the work as fast as we can and make sure the structure was safe for road users," Bensadoun said.

The highway was closed after a collision involving four vehicles caused a tanker truck to catchfire and explode, killing the driverand injuring six others.

Less than 24-hour turnaround

It took ministry workers less than 24 hours to get the westbound stretch open oncepolice completed their analysis of the scene and turned it over to Transports Qubec.

Bensadoun said the operation involved more than 200 ministry personnel representing "every kind of expertise" andworking in close co-ordinationwith city, police and fire officials.

"We started with tests we took some samples in different areasand later that day it came out that there was no damage to the concrete," she said.

Asphalt damaged by the fire was stripped and resurfaced and temporary guard rails were installed to replace those that had been bent by the intense heat.

The three westbound lanes reopened at 6:30 a.m. Thursday.

Quebec's Transport Minister Jacques Daoust heralded the rapid completion of the workas the "best possible scenario."

Bensadoun, however, saidMontreal commuters should not seethat scenarioas a pace-setting precedent for other road maintenance and development projects around Montreal.

"In this case, it was an emergency. In other projects, it's not the same situation," Bensadoun said.

"We have to analyze the traffic, we want to make sure we will not hinder the traffic in any way So it's not the same process at all."

More on this story:

• 'He did everything he could': Man tries to rescue truck driver from Montreal highway inferno
• Montreal's Highway 40 accident: See what happened in photos and video