(Quebec) Former PQ minister Marcel Léger described the construction of a six-lane highway on the banks of the St. Lawrence in Quebec in 1978 as “the stupidity of the century” which deprived citizens of access to the river.
Forty-five years later, the Legault government announced the launch of an international competition to rethink this sector of the capital. He is even open to the idea of reducing the width of the Dufferin-Montmorency highway.
“It is a firm commitment to give the river back to citizens,” said the Minister of the National Capital, Jonatan Julien, on Friday.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESS
The minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale, Jonatan Julien, surrounded by the MP for Montmorency, Jean-François Simard (left), and the mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand.
The international competition will be launched next week for the requalification of an 8 km strip of land between the river and the highway, from Beauport Bay to Chute-Montmorency Park.
A jury of experts will select three winners next April. Then, the population will be consulted on the three scenarios. The president of the jury is the landscaper Bertrand Vignal, from the French firm BASE. It is this firm which notably won the mandate to redevelop the right bank of the Rhône in Lyon, where a motorway must be reduced.
The jury notably includes the bassist of the group Cowboys Fringants. Intrigued, a Radio » “His training is first and foremost as an ecologist, he is a researcher and professor,” explained architect Jérôme Lapierre, who supports the Quebec National Capital Commission in organizing the competition.
In the past, the elected officials of the CAQ had been timid about transforming Dufferin-Montmorency into an urban boulevard, as unanimously requested by the elected officials of the Quebec municipal council.
But on Friday, they opened the door to reorganizing the highway, including reducing it from six to four lanes. Currently, the highway is designed to accommodate more than 90,000 cars per day. In this sector of Beauport, it receives at most 30,000 per day, and 18,000 in certain places.
” In the past, […] perhaps we were not ready enough for the possibility of transforming this boulevard into something else. If we are here today, it is because we are ready to do it,” said Minister Julien.
This project, presented as phase 4 of the Samuel-de-Champlain promenade, has the same objectives as what was carried out in the west of the capital: to restore access to the river for citizens, and to create a linear promenade for cycling. and walking.
Merchant in retreat
The CAQ deputy for Montmorency did not hide his joy. “The best announcement in my life as an MP so far is the announcement of phase 4,” said Jean-François Simard.
To his left, the mayor of Quebec did not display the same smile. Bruno Marchand was delighted with the announcement. But it comes at the end of a particularly difficult week during which this same government dispossessed it of its tram project, putting it back in the hands of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
He also refused to answer any questions on this subject. “All questions related to this project will be redirected to the minister,” he said. You may ask me fifty questions in the coming months, but I won’t answer them. It’s a government decision, he takes the ball, they will respond. »
Can we believe the CAQ when it announces projects for Quebec, given their hesitations on the tramway and third link issues? “I feel the sincere commitment of the minister and his desire to move forward” with the redevelopment of the banks to the east, the mayor simply replied.
The leader of the official opposition at city hall was delighted with the launch of this competition, having long called for the highway to become an urban boulevard. But Claude Villeneuve couldn’t help but notice that the mayor seemed shaken.
“It is certain that it is humiliating for the mayor and through that for all the citizens of Quebec, the sequence. What we are experiencing, having the project withdrawn, is a very hard blow for everyone. It’s not a party for Quebec,” said Mr. Villeneuve.
“I try to imagine Jean-Paul L’Allier, Andrée Boucher or Régis Labeaume putting themselves in that situation, but I don’t believe it,” he added.