Mont-Tremblant National Park will ultimately not be crossed by a paved road connecting the municipalities of Saint-Donat and Saint-Michel-des-Saints all year round, as announced in 2021 by the Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (SEPAQ).
The year-round “scenic road” project, which had attracted some criticism, has been abandoned in favor of completing and restoring the current gravel road, which will be open from spring to fall, SEPAQ said in a press release.
SEPAQ attributes this turnaround to the increase in the cost of the project, which was now estimated at $35 million, compared to $20 million when it was announced.
“We had to go back to the drawing board to deliver a project on time, by the end of 2025, which more closely respects the initial budget,” he told The Press the spokesperson for SEPAQ, Simon Boivin.
The thirty-kilometre road, which “will be mainly gravel”, indicates the SEPAQ, will facilitate access to certain attractions of the oldest national park in Quebec, notably Lac des Cyprès (Lake Forbes).
Secret environmental analyses
SEPAQ had refused to make public the environmental analyses of the first version of the project, attracting further criticism, reported The Pressin March 2023.
The state-owned company claims to have ensured “to conduct the necessary characterization studies to minimize the impacts on the natural environment” of the new version of its project, but has not made them public.
Doing so would, however, allow for “an independent assessment of mitigation measures.” [mises en place pour] “minimize the impacts on biodiversity” of this road, believes biologist Alain Branchaud, general director of the Quebec section of the Society for Nature and Parks (SNAP).
The road restoration and completion work, which should begin in the fall, will essentially consist of widening it and providing it with a drainage system along its entire length, with ditches and culverts, indicates the SEPAQ, specifying that a call for tenders will be launched “in the coming weeks.”