Régis Labeaume blames the Legault government for the increased costs of the tramway project and publicly expresses doubts about the construction of a tunnel in the east of the territory.
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In a letter of more than ten pages addressed to Prime Minister François Legault who comes in his last moments as mayor of Quebec, Mr. Labeaume details several concerns and thoughts about the two projects.
Regarding the tram, he deplores a series of government demands that have delayed the schedule, such as a change of route “late” and a decree that came “months later than the planned schedule” to launch the. first call for proposals.
He regrets that the government “has changed the rules of the game during the procurement process”. Ultimately, the City had to start this process all over again at the beginning of last summer, causing a delay of at least a year.
“The government made choices that the City had to carry out. But at the same time, these choices have imposed a significant delay on the project and a probability of a single candidate for the rolling stock which will have very significant financial consequences ”, writes the outgoing mayor.
Regarding the tunnel between Quebec and Lévis, Régis Labeaume strongly questions, with supporting data, the relevance of building it in the eastern sector of the territory because “three-quarters of the vehicles leaving from the South Shore come from the west of this territory to go west of Quebec and vice versa for the return ”.
Demographic data shows that it is in the eastern RCMs that the population is the most aging and the least growing.
“Why would 3/4 of motorists coming from the west of the South Shore and going to the west of Quebec City drive additional kilometers eastwards in order to use a tunnel to end up on highways which are already in congestion on the east side of Quebec and would return to the west of the city for their final destination? ”asks Mr. Labeaume.
According to him, much less expensive alternatives are possible, such as dynamic voice management on the Pierre-Laporte Bridge.
“And allow me to titillate you in a friendly way by reminding you that on January 25, 2018, Mr. Eric Caire declared that he estimated the cost of building the third link at $ 2 billion, that the disaster scenario had been established at $ 4 billion. dollars and that no ceiling price would be set for the project. That is to say … ”, he launches.
More details to come …