The government wants to know if the bridge it promises to build between Quebec and Lévis whets the appetite of international consortiums. The Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, must announce on Friday the launch of a call of global interest for the world’s conglomerates interested in completing the third link to raise their hands.
This is a way of feeling the pulse of the market, according to those around the minister. The government intends to determine a definitive corridor at the end of this first stage, starting next summer.
In June, Prime Minister François Legault favored the choice of a bridge to the east, near the tip of Île d’Orléans, without moving forward on a precise route. The sector presents a certain complexity: the height of the largest cruise ships which dock at the port of Quebec require an air draft of at least 74 m above the waterway and the rock, under the waters of the Saint- Laurent, is sometimes found at a depth estimated at several tens of meters, according to studies carried out in 1972 and 2016.
The government no longer promises a first shovelful of ground before the end of its mandate. The first signatures will appear at the bottom of a contract no earlier than 2027. The costs and schedule of the project will be refined over the same horizon.
This new corridor which is to span the Saint-Laurent would become the first project developed in “collaborative mode”. Bill 62, defended by the Minister of Infrastructure and responsible for the National Capital, Jonatan Julien, should make it possible to reconcile the government’s orientations and the expertise of the private sector from the infancy of a public project to compensate for unforeseen and facilitate compliance with budgets as well as the construction schedule.
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