Quebec confirmed on Monday investments of 6.8 billion in the province’s infrastructure. The sums will finance more than a thousand road, maritime, rail and airport infrastructure projects between 2022 and 2024.
“It’s 2 billion more than in 2019, declared François Bonnardel, the Minister of Transport, during a press briefing, surrounded by construction trucks in Anjou in the east of Montreal. It’s 1350 projects that will take shape all over the territory from this summer. »
Of this sum, 2.7 billion will be devoted to maintaining the structures in good condition. A sum of 1.5 billion will be devoted to pavements.
Montreal, where the announcement took place, will get just over $1 billion of the total envelope. This represents a “colossal” sum for the metropolis, argued the minister responsible for the Montreal region, Chantal Rouleau, who was present at the press conference.
The announcement will affect many highway infrastructures in the greater Montreal area. Mme Rouleau assured that the main partners of Mobility Montreal, namely the government, cities and public transport companies, will try to reduce the impact of the work on motorists as much as possible. “Obviously, when we talk about work, we are also talking about mitigation measures, replied Ms.me Roller. Sometimes we will talk about bypasses. Sometimes we will talk about increasing the bus network. »
The East REM will go ahead
Asked about the REM de l’Est, Minister Rouleau affirmed that the project would go ahead while the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, and the CDPQ Infra passed the buck on the delayed project.
The subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec announced last Thursday that it has decided to delay the final presentation of the project before the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE), which was scheduled for this spring, in order to obtain better support from its partners, including the City of Montreal. Friday, M.me Plante, for its part, asked CDPQ Infra to say “clearly and publicly” whether it wants the City around the table or not.
Despite the delays, M.me Rouleau says abandoning the project is not an option. “The REM de l’Est must come true, the REM de l’Est will come true. CDPQ Infra, the Government of Quebec and the City of Montreal are working together to determine “the best mechanism to get things done properly,” said Ms.me Roller.