Highway 417 eastbound to remain reduced to 1 lane near Vankleek Hill all weekend

Eastbound traffic on Highway 417 near Vankleek Hill will be reduced to one lane for the next several days after some of the pavement near an overpass buckled Wednesday.

The eastbound lanes of Hwy. 417 were fully closed between exit 27 at Highway 34 and exit 17 at County Road 10 Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, with the detour taking drivers through Vankleek Hill. The OPP announced one lane of the highway reopened just before noon on Thursday.

• DETOUR: 4 ways to drive from Ottawa to Montreal during Hwy. 417 lane reductions near Vankleek Hill

The eastbound lanes on the highway east of Ottawa were first closed when drivers reported potential structural concerns on the highway overpass at Aberdeen Road. 

In a statement, the Ministry of Transportation said high temperatures in the area on Wednesday caused pavement to expand, which resulted in an uplift on the approach to the bridge.

"The bridge remains safe for use by traffic," the MTO said. "The affected concrete in the second lane was removed overnight and replaced with asphalt as a temporary repair so that the approach could open to one lane earlier today. A contractor will begin replacing the concrete on Monday. In the meantime, Highway 417 eastbound will remain reduced to one lane at this location."

Temperatures reached into the low 30s C on Wednesday in eastern Ontario, with high humidex values.

The OPP said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Thursday morning to expect lengthy delays.

"One of the panels in the eastbound lanes on highway 417 had actually lifted up, kind of buckled a little bit. it was lifted up about 15 cm and that was deemed to be unsafe," OPP Const. Sydney Jones told CTV News Ottawa on Thursday.

Jones says construction crews have also checked the westbound lanes over the bridge and another bridge in the area.

"That bridge was deemed to be in good condition," Jones said. 

Construction crews were on the scene Thursday morning fixing the road, including "putting down asphalt in the lane where it was elevated," according to Jones.

Westbound lanes on Highway 417 remain open.

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Katie Griffin