The construction cost of the new version of the tunnel project between downtown Quebec and Lévis is now estimated at $6.5 billion and its commissioning should take place in 2032, a year later than expected.
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According to Ministers François Bonnardel and Geneviève Guilbault, who today unveiled an adjusted version of their flagship project, savings of more than 25% will be achieved by focusing on a tunnel concept with two tubes of reduced diameter.
Each tube – one northbound and one southbound – will carry two lanes of traffic.
This is at least one of the “government guidelines” that the project office will be required to respect.
The first “monotube” version of the Third Link, which required designing the largest tunnel boring machine in the world, officially goes to the chipper. According to our calculations, if the costs are reduced by a quarter with the new version, we can believe that the initial project would have cost close to $9 billion. In May 2021, François Legault had indicated that the overall bill for the tunnel would be somewhere between $7 and $10 billion.
As reported by our Parliamentary Office, the priority given to buses during peak periods and the right of circulation for trucks outside these hours will be managed by a “dynamic lane management” tool.
The Legault government believes that the new twin-tube configuration of the Québec–Lévis tunnel will reduce the risks associated with the construction of such a structure in addition to facilitating competition during the call for tenders process.
Deadline postponed
The changes made to the project less than a year after the presentation of the Réseau express de la Capitale (REC) – the major regional vision of the CAQ government in terms of transport – will have an impact on the schedule.
The inauguration of the tunnel, which was scheduled for 2031, is now planned for 2032. Last February, Prime Minister François Legault, who was not part of today’s announcement, had nevertheless reiterated the wish to accelerate the realization of its megaproject. “I find it very long, 10 years [pour construire le tunnel]. We will work to reduce that, ”said Mr. Legault, as soon as the REC was unveiled on May 17, 2021.