The tramway construction site is getting back underway in Quebec City. The city intends to restart in August 2025 the major work on Laurier Boulevard that the government had put on hold last November.
Some essential work had been able to continue despite the pause decided eight months ago by Premier François Legault and his Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault. Since the spring, however, the suspension of work had silenced the machinery that had previously been operating in several places along the route.
In a call for tenders issued last week and first noted by The sunthe City is restarting the machine. It is looking for a partner capable of guiding it in the development of the boulevard and the relocation of its underground networks, made necessary to prevent them from crossing the route of the future tramway.
The project targets a 1.7 km stretch between Route de l’Église, to the west, and Avenue des Sciences humaines, to the east. The City estimates that the work will cost around $70 million.
The supplier who wins the contract will be tasked with dealing with all eventualities that may arise during the construction phase. Soil and sewer diameter analysis, identification of structural weaknesses in the built environment, management of contaminated land, obtaining all necessary authorizations from third parties such as Hydro-Québec, sequencing of the work to reduce its duration and minimizing “the nuisance to traffic” are just a few points in a 163-page specification.
After the submission of the final plans and specifications scheduled for April 11, the City will launch a second call for tenders in May to select the partner who will carry out the work. These will be spread over a period that remains to be specified based on the schedule presented by the first bidder.
Create a “signature” entry route into the capital
The City has the ambition to make this sector of Sainte-Foy a “signature” entry route into the capital. A row of trees will eventually line the axial platform that will accommodate the trains. Three traffic lanes will be placed on either side of the latter, with additional trees along the sidewalks to the north and south.
The work, which will begin in August 2025, will complete a project that began in 2021 to reinvent Laurier Boulevard. The protection of the existing canopy, in this heavily concreted area due to the parking lots surrounding the three shopping centres in the area, also appears to be essential in the City’s recent call for tenders.
“Given the importance and social value given to trees […]the supplier must endeavour to conserve and maintain the canopy and limit the felling of trees,” the specifications state.
The Quebec City tramway, which was considered dead when the government took it out of the hands of Quebec City in November, finally received the green light from the premier last month. The report commissioned from CDPQ Infra recommended its construction according to a plan similar to the one that was on the drawing board in 2018, when the CAQ came to power.
François Legault gave his approval to the construction of the “backbone” of the structuring network designed by CDPQ Infra, namely a 19 km route between the Le Gendre and Charlesbourg sectors valued at 5.5 billion dollars.
After the multiple delays and procrastinations that punctuated the tramway saga and culminated in its suspension last November, Quebec was to absorb half of the bill, Ottawa 40%, and Quebec City the remaining 10%.