(Quebec) The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec was not only tasked with finding the best structuring transport system for the capital: the Legault government also asked it to find the best option to improve fluidity between the two banks and her to present solution for a possible third link.
Published at 10:40 am.
CDPQ Infra therefore has six months to find answers to questions that have been tearing the state capital apart for years. The branch of the Caisse, which in particular created the REM in Montreal, officially accepted the mandate given by Quebec on Monday.
The Caisse has a two-part mandate, as we can read in an email sent on Monday by Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault to the president and CEO of CDPQ Infra, Jean-Marc Arbaud.
- Identify a structuring transportation project to improve public transportation for Quebec City.
- Improving mobility and fluidity in the Quebec metropolitan region, particularly between the two coasts.
Minister Guilbault’s office confirmed that this second part of the mandate includes a possible proposal for a third connection. We remember that the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) was elected in 2018 promising a new connection between Quebec and Lévis.
This was initially planned in the east via the Ile d’Orléans. It was then presented “downtown to downtown,” but that option included one of the largest tunnels in the world and a potential cost of $10 billion. It was subsequently redesigned as a “two-pipe” before being shelved again and then revived by the CAQ.
To fulfill this rather ambitious mandate, CDPQ Infra can count on the numerous third link studies commissioned by the government. Quebec has already paid at least 59 million for studies of all kinds.
The studies commissioned by the government and the city of Quebec that led to the choice of tram will also be made available to the Caisse.
More details to follow.
With Tommy Chouinard