Quebec confirmed Monday a “record” investment of 6.7 billion in the road, maritime, rail and airport network of the province until 2024, reserving in particular a little more than a billion for the roads of Montreal. A series of projects are thus targeted.
Posted at 1:53 p.m.
In the metropolis, the money will go to around thirty projects identified as “priority” in the context of economic recovery. Among them, we are talking in particular about the repair of the Pie-IX bridge, the repair of the Ville-Marie and Viger tunnels and the repair of the Liesse tunnel, on Highway 13. We also include the reconstruction of two bridges of leveling in poor condition: that of Highway 520, above McArthur and Hickmore streets, and that of Boulevard des Galeries-d’Anjou, overlooking Highway 40.
Further west, in the Lachine sector, the 1D Avenue will also be revamped and retaining walls will be installed beyond Highway 20 to ensure user safety and preserve the quality of the roadway. Various “asset maintenance” operations are also planned for large facilities, including the repair of the ramps on the Saint-Pierre interchange and the elevated structures on Route 136, between the Ville-Marie tunnel and the Turcot interchange.
Note: Quebec also reserves in this plan an envelope of 4 million to begin “preparatory work” in connection with the third link, in Lévis.
“These are preparatory works that will take shape this fall to prepare the location of the tunnel in the coming years. We want to go further than a cut of grass, so it’s widening work and all that,” Transport Minister François Bonnardel said on Monday, promising to present a “remodeled” third link project in the next weeks.
In early February, Quebec acknowledged that it was returning to the drawing board for its project for a third highway link between Quebec and Lévis, considering reducing the number of lanes provided for motorists in this tunnel which was to cost up to 10 billion. “The Minister of Transport is seeing if it takes two more lanes, four more lanes. In total, do we need two lanes, four lanes, six lanes? This is what we are looking at, ”launched the Prime Minister, François Legault.
Mitigation measures
Across the province, about $5 billion will go to repairing roads and structures, including nearly $2.3 billion to make the network safer and “to follow up on the recommendations of the Coroner’s Office” following various accidents, in particular. Quebec also reserves 1.7 billion for maritime projects, 225 million for rail projects – including 15 million to renovate culverts located on abandoned rights of way – and 113 million for airport projects.
The Minister for Transport and responsible for the Metropolis, Chantal Rouleau, promised Monday that mitigation measures will be put in place to limit the impact on traffic.
“Sometimes we will talk about bypasses. We can talk about increasing the bus network. This is what we saw, for example, in the case of the Île aux Tourtes bridge when there were emergency works that we had to carry out, ”she said, recalling that significant sums will also go towards the permanent repair of this bridge.
“We also always suggest taking public transit. It’s better than waiting in the car in a line, ”chained Mme Roller. However, it excludes for the moment reducing the cost of public transport in the most affected sectors. “The cost of public transit is not necessarily an argument for not taking it, because it is already cheaper than the cost of gas or the cost of parking,” concluded the Minister.