2023-05-21 02:08:53
A young Montreal family missed their flight after being stuck in traffic for more than 3.5 hours trying to get to Montreal-Trudeau airport on Saturday afternoon.
Catalina, her spouse and their 16-month-old baby left their L’Île-des-Sœurs neighborhood in a taxi around 2:30 p.m. However, the closure of the ramp leading from Route 138 to Highway 20 West caused a huge traffic jam from the airport to downtown.
“When we left, we saw it was 30 minutes, then it changed to an hour. We couldn’t get any real traffic information,” Catalina told TVA Nouvelles. “It was madness, it was stressful!”
The journey, which normally takes about 20 minutes, took 3:36 hours.
The taxi bill, which should have been around $50, came to $216, including the tip.
Jonathan Santos
Jonathan Santos
Catalina and her family finally arrived at the airport at 6:06 p.m. Their flight to France had already taken off, however.
During the interminable journey, the young toddler of 16 months was stressed and wanted to go out, “but it was not possible”, says the mother.
Other travelers stuck in traffic, however, decided to give it a try on foot.
“People were taking out their suitcases and starting to walk,” she says. It also saw mothers trying to comfort their children and people taking their dogs out onto the road.
“It was like a total nightmare,” claims Catalina.
Jonathan Santos
The family’s driver, Jonathan Santos, also deplores the situation on Saturday.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” he told TVA Nouvelles.
“Ladies were going out to pee on the highway!”, he mentions.
Jonathan Santos
The one who has been a taxi driver for eight months has also been a truck driver in the past. According to him, it is inconceivable that the Ministry of Transport blocked access to Highway 20 in broad daylight.
According to Santos, thousands of travelers flying to Europe and Asia arrive at the airport on Saturday afternoon.
“They are closing a major highway to get to the airport!” exclaimed the taxi driver.
Fortunately for Catalina and her family, they were able to get another flight to France with Air Canada on Saturday evening, without having to pay for new plane tickets.
TVA Nouvelles tried to obtain a reaction from the Ministry of Transport, but did not obtain a return call.
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