Highway 10 was completely closed to traffic on Sunday, in both directions, due to the presence of a suspicious package that forced an extensive “police operation” by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ). The lanes were reopened mid-afternoon.
“A police operation is currently underway in the area of ​​Highway 10, eastbound, at km 8 in Brossard. We ask motorists to avoid the area, “said the Sûreté du Québec in a brief press release, at the start of the day on Sunday.
A little later, the police force clarified that the closure “is now over on Highway 10 and that traffic is back to normal”. The SQ specified that it “was called at the request of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility of Quebec (MTMD) for verifications”. “Following these checks, we can confirm that the situation is compliant,” certified the authorities.
Officially, the police do not confirm the reason for their operation, but a police source told La Presse on Sunday that a suspicious package that would have been left at the shoulder of Boulevard Milan, under the viaduct spanning the motorway, would initiate the deployment.
“We don’t take chances in that time, we make sure to do all the required checks,” said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The closure caused a lot of congestion in the area, with traffic stretching over several kilometers, MTMD surveillance cameras showed in the afternoon. On Twitter, the ministry had also confirmed the complete closure via Quebec 511, also speaking of a “police security operation”, without going any further.
It was shortly after 2 p.m. that the highway was finally reopened to traffic in both directions.
