The Turcot Interchange was officially opened on the 25th of April 1967, by Québec Premier Daniel Johnson, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau and Federal Public Works Minister James Mecllraith. The enormous ‘ Spaghetti-shaped’ turnpike was admired for it’s functionality and spectacular design :« Motorists will be driving on roadways 60 feet above the Turcot railway yard below to a maximum height of 100 feet at the apex of the structure. Whithin a radius of about a thousand feet, the one-way sections, when placed end-to-end would equal 4.5 miles. The turnpike, a first in North America, required 220,000 cubic yards of concrete and 21,000 tons of steel in it’s construction( Ministère de la Voirie, 1967 ). » The cost, at that time, was $ 24, 000, 000.00 and was shared between the three levels of governement.
Québec engineers were gaining recognition with the Turcot and Manic 5 projects. Today, they are reknowned world-wide. With the ‘ Essentiel Urban Pathways’ project, The Turcot Interchange could once again, 50 years later, be a source of creative inspiration.