(Quebec) The opposition may speak of the third link as a “phantom project”, the tenors of the government reaffirmed Tuesday their intention to go ahead at all costs with this twin-tube project between Quebec and Lévis.
“I’m still determined to make a 3e link, ”assured the Prime Minister, François Legault, when questioned by journalists in the Parliament of Quebec.
“First of all, my responsibility as a manager of public funds is to make sure that we look at all the up-to-date studies, among other things, the impacts of telework on… Not just the impacts of telework during the pandemic, but after the pandemic on traffic,” added Mr. Legault, who promises an update “in the coming weeks.”
At about the same time, at the Center des Congrès de Québec, a stone’s throw from Parliament, the Minister of Transport promised to unveil this famous update “before the summer of course”, probably in April.
“All of the available data will be presented in full transparency at the next announcement,” promised Geneviève Guilbault.
However, the latter cannot guarantee that the government will announce the estimated cost of the project at the same time. “As for the cost, there is always the notion of not influencing the calls for tenders. At the last announcement, we talked about 6.5 billion. When you give prices before launching the call for tenders, sometimes that can have an impact. “, argued Minister Guilbault.
The CAQ’s first announcement in this matter, which occurred in May 2021, proposed a huge 3.3 km tunnel that would be close to $10 billion. A year later, in the spring of 2022, the Legault government presented a twin-tube project at 6.5 billion.
These statements come as the government announced “historic” investments in roads on Tuesday. The Ministère des Transports plans to inject $7.4 billion into the road, maritime, rail and airport transport networks over the next two years.
Further details will follow.
With Tommy Chouinard, The Press