The Caisse de dépôt et placement (CDPQ) will not only analyze a public transportation scenario for Quebec City; she also received a mandate from the government to look into a third link between the two shores.
In a letter from the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, sent to the Caisse de dépôt and of which The Canadian Press obtained a copy, it is indicated that CDPQ Infra will have to recommend solutions which will make it possible to “identify a structuring transport project allowing improve public transportation for Quebec City [et] to improve mobility and fluidity in the Metropolitan Community of Quebec, particularly between the two shores.”
Despite the addition of this important component to the analysis, CDPQ Infra will only have six months to submit its proposals.
On Monday, the Caisse indicated that it accepted the government’s mandate “to analyze the current and projected mobility of the entire Metropolitan Community of Quebec (CMQ), for all modes of transport combined.” It is indicated that CDPQ Infra will base itself on existing studies to carry out its analysis.
Two weeks ago, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government rejected Quebec Mayor Bruno Marchand’s proposal for a $8.4 billion tramway.
The Minister of Transport then announced that she was going to give CDPQ Infra the mandate to find the best public transport project for Quebec City. At that time, the third link had not been mentioned.
The government was increasingly cautious about the tram project due to the explosion in costs.
The return of the third link
Less than 24 hours after his crushing defeat in Jean-Talon against the Parti Québécois last month, Prime Minister François Legault took everyone by surprise by announcing that he wanted to consult the population of Quebec about the third link and that all options were on the table.
This about-face came a few months after the Minister of Transport announced the abandonment of the motorway component of the project in favor of a tunnel reserved for public transport.
In Minister Guilbault’s office, it is indicated that the consultation on the third link will be done in parallel with the CDPQ Infra analysis. Its terms should also be known very soon.
While the government until recently favored the scenario of a tunnel – or a twin tube – the idea of a bridge between Quebec and Lévis was raised by the Prime Minister in October.
Two weeks ago, The sun published a survey indicating that only 9% of Quebecers still believe that the CAQ will achieve the third link.