Will the tunnel between Québec and Lévis finally be reserved for public transport only? Prime Minister François Legault builds tension as he awaits the update Geneviève Guilbault will soon have to make.
• Also read: “The third link is big nonsense,” says Marc Tanguay
• Also read: New IPCC report: The CAQ must back down on the 3rd link, the opposition insists
In the past, Québec Solidaire had shown itself open to a third link dedicated solely to public transport, before changing its mind during the last election campaign, proposing instead an improvement in service through the two existing bridges. The Parti Québécois has proposed a tunnel in which a small train would travel from city center to city center.
“Listen, let’s wait for the traffic study in a few weeks, then we can answer your questions with data,” the prime minister limited himself to the question asked about the budget the next day, which makes no special arrangements for that third link.
Remember that the studies expected at the beginning of the year should be presented soon by the Minister for Transport and Sustainable Mobility, taking into account the impact of teleworking on travel between the two banks.
Two lanes for public transport
François Legault, prompted again by the parliamentary press on the amounts set aside for public transport for the coming years, argued that “major public transport projects” were in the pipeline.
“First in Quebec City, the Quebec streetcar, we will continue to support them, then we know that there will probably be increases in costs. In the tunnel [Québec-Lévis]”Well, there will be two lanes dedicated to public transport,” he assured.
Asked last week whether the 3rd link project would still include lanes for vehicles, the minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale, Jonatan Julien, also essentially based himself on the presentation Ms Guilbault is about to make. “I haven’t seen the latest version, but there was never a question that there weren’t any cars on my ears anyway,” said Mr Julien.
Overheated
Before the parliamentary recess, the infrastructure minister acknowledged that the Québec-Lévis tunnel project, like all other major infrastructure projects, could be affected by construction overheating, which is driving up the costs of many projects.
Earlier this week, the Department of Transportation announced in a press release that the cost of the Louis Hippolyte-La Fontaine Tunnel renovation site in Montreal has skyrocketed by $1 billion.
Can we expect the same from the 3rd Link project, whose maximum cost was estimated at $6.5 billion a year ago?
“I don’t think you can compare building a new tunnel to renovating a tunnel that’s, well, in worse shape than you thought. Also, François Bonnardel had said at the time that budgets were threatening to increase,” Mr Legault said on Wednesday.
“Something,” says the PLQ
For his part, interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay now believes the 3rd link project will never happen.
“This is great nonsense. Spending so much time, energy, saliva, ink, radio time, TV time on a phantom project that doesn’t even exist in the budget, that doesn’t even have a study, it’s not justified,” the LaFontaine representative said.
“I’m tired of talking about the third link. I’m tired of talking about a ghost,” he added.
“Will it happen one day? Let’s say my optimistic side tends to believe that reality will eventually catch up with the CAQ,” commented for his part Québec solidaire parliamentary leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.
“I’m not sure we’ll see that in our lifetime,” Gouin’s deputy continued. My pessimistic half tells me that we are dealing with a government so stubborn, so ideological, so far removed from the reality of the climate crisis that it risks hanging out to the end that he makes us run into the wall with him. Makes me hope my optimistic half is right. »
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