(Saint-Pierre-de l’Île-d’Orléans) The Legault government admits that the bill of 2.7 billion for the new Île d’Orléans bridge “may cause surprise”, but judges that replacing the old This link was essential for the safety of the islanders, but also to continue to offer access to this “identity symbol” of Quebec.
“It’s a figure that can make you jump,” admitted Tuesday morning the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility (MTMD), Geneviève Guilbault. “For us, for reasons of security and economic development, we had no choice but to move forward. But it sure is expensive. »
Minister Guilbault announced at a press conference that her government is moving forward with the construction of the new bridge. The lowest bidder, the consortium made up of the companies Dragados Canada and EBC, won the bid. The new bridge will cost 1.86 billion, to which will be added road improvements on both banks and the deconstruction of the old bridge to reach 2.7 billion.
This figure raised eyebrows among many elected officials in the CAQ caucus. “We confirm that the final cost is higher than the estimates,” conceded Mme Guilbault.
However, she did not want to say how much the officials of her ministry had estimated the reconstruction of the bridge before opening the envelopes. The replacement of the 1935 bridge which connects the North Shore to the island of 7,000 inhabitants was estimated at “a few hundred million” in 2020 by the former Minister of Transport, François Bonnardel.
But ultimately, the elected government officials decided to move forward for security reasons, but also “because it is a symbol, because it is an identity for us in Quebec, the island of Orléans », according to Mme Guilbault.
A new call for tenders will be carried out for the deconstruction of the current bridge, which will be completed by 2033. The new bridge must open in 2028.
“It’s a high blow. And we will be compared to other bridges, bridges with more lanes, but there is a market reality, a shortage of labor, overheating,” indicated the Minister of Transport.
No third link planned on the island
The Ministry explains the high cost of the project by its complexity. The central span must be 430 meters long, to accommodate maritime transport and a baret spawning ground.
Quebec also required the selected consortium to transport the materials by barges rather than by the old bridge. The current bridge is so old and its condition considered so worrying that officials were concerned about the effect of the 17,000 truck crossings required for the project.
Still, the bill is hefty. This is more than the Île aux Tourtes bridge in Montreal, which is expected to cost 2.3 billion, or 65% more than initially planned. However, the Orléans bridge receives much fewer cars, or 11,000 per day, according to the most recent government data, compared to 81,000 for that of Île aux Tourtes.
The bridge will have two lanes, shoulders as well as three-meter-wide multifunctional paths on both sides. Quebec therefore chose to maintain the two current routes.
The new bridge was therefore not designed to accommodate a possible third motorway link between the two banks. Prime Minister François Legault declared in 2018 that the passage of a possible third link through the island was envisaged, to connect to the new bridge.
This idea was abandoned by the CAQ in 2019, which then decided to go with a tunnel “from city center to city center” without going through the island. MTMD officials therefore did not take into account an increase in flow on the new island bridge when launching the tender process.
Remember that the CAQ then abandoned the highway project, then resurrected it. CDPQ-Infra has since received the mandate to analyze the project. He must deliver his conclusion in June.