(Quebec) A confidential study commissioned by Ottawa shows that Quebec is poorly served by intershore links compared to similar cities, an argument that the government of François Legault will not fail to put forward when requesting federal funding for its third link.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
“Analyzing similar towns, it is clear that most of them have more than three fixed connections to the other side of the river,” reads theStudy on the economic impact of the Quebec Bridge, document obtained by The Press under an access to information request.
The report produced by the firm CPCS and dated March 2021 was commissioned by Infrastructure Canada. He concludes that the Quebec Bridge, which is in dire need of investment, is an essential link for the national capital.
The firm conducted an interesting exercise: it analyzed similar cities in North America, located on the edge of waterways at least 500 m wide. It has determined 10 metropolitan areas of 300,000 to 2 million inhabitants (Greater Quebec has 800,000).
Among these 10 examples, only 3 have two or less interbank links. The Quebec capital has two with the bridges of Quebec and Pierre-Laporte.
Memphis, Tennessee has only two bridges that span the Mississippi River. But the analysis hastens to specify that only 50,000 inhabitants live on one of the banks of the river (Lévis has some 150,000 inhabitants).
A third metropolitan area has only one bridge, Evansville, Indiana. “This metropolitan area has 315,000 inhabitants, or 2.5 times less than the Quebec City region,” reads the document commissioned by Infrastructure Canada.
But the seven other similar examples unearthed by the authors of the study have more than two cross-links. Most have three, but Harrisburg has five, and Davenport and Louisville have four.
The authors also did the exercise with towns bordered by rivers more than 300 m wide. The result was similar.
Should we save the Quebec Bridge?
L’Study on the economic impact of the Quebec Bridge was not however commissioned by Ottawa to conclude on the necessity or not of a new intershore link between Quebec and Lévis.
PHOTO ERICK LABBÉ, LE SOLEIL ARCHIVES
Autoroute Laurentienne, in Quebec, where the main exit of the third link is planned.
The report was written in a context where the Quebec Bridge is over 100 years old and requires major work. The structure belongs to CN, but Ottawa plans to buy it back.
Ottawa and Quebec do not agree, however, on the share that each will have to pay for the maintenance of the bridge, which must cost more than half a billion. The government of François Legault has already committed to replacing the apron at a cost of 200 million.
Doing without the Quebec Bridge is not an option, however, warn the authors of the study. “What is clear is that no metropolitan area above a certain size has only one bridge,” it reads.
“The bridge is of crucial importance to ensure the redundancy of the Pierre-Laporte bridge” in the event of a natural disaster, continue the authors.
The Quebec Bridge is also vital for rail transport. CPCS notes that it is also essential for utilitarian cyclists, as the only other option to cross the river is the ferry, 15 km away.
The closure of the Quebec Bridge, without its replacement, would create major traffic jams near the Pierre-Laporte Bridge. Motorists would lose almost 600,000 hours in congestion, according to models.
“The bridge is an essential element of the Quebec region’s transportation network because of its multimodal capacity and its redundancy. It is also an important link in the national transportation network, as it provides efficient rail access to the Port of Quebec,” the authors conclude.