Since the announcement of the Réseau express de la Capitale last May, a public discussion has begun on the future of transportation in the Capitale-Nationale region. I salute the citizens’ commitment to mobility issues, and I would like to take a moment to come back to the two main components of the Réseau express de la Capitale, the tramway and the Quebec-Lévis tunnel.
The Quebec City tramway project is the backbone of the Government of Quebec’s vision for public transit in the Quebec City metropolitan region. The new express network will make it possible to offer an efficient, fast and attractive public transit service to citizens of the entire greater Quebec City region, whether they live in the city center or in the suburbs, on the north shore. or the south shore.
Our government has always supported the City of Quebec in its desire to implement this project, whether by completing its funding, by presenting a law that facilitates its implementation or by making improvements thanks to the support of independent experts. Our determination to carry out this project has been maintained despite the upheavals of recent years, and there have been many. In 2018, the City presented the population with a project expected to cost $ 3.3 billion, of which $ 2 billion was reserved for a 23-kilometer tram line. By May 2020, the project budget had significantly increased. The tram component alone was estimated at $ 3.1 billion. This significant cost overrun has led us to take a step back and call on independent experts. During the time we were doing our work, a devastating report from the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment was released. In quick succession, it was therefore two bad news that fell on the Quebec City tram project.
Negotiation with the city
Rather than starting from scratch in the face of difficulties, we negotiated with the City of Quebec, as the situation required, with a view to delivering the best project for the people of Quebec. The results were convincing: together with the municipal administration, we opted for a route of 19.3 km serving the booming sector of D’Estimauville, in addition to adding a network of reserved lanes to offer the suburbs a high-performance public transport solution.
In addition, faced with the failure of the first procurement process, the City had to continue its work, and a new cost estimate was presented to us. Once again, we have testified to our determination to carry out the project and to work in collaboration with the City and its new mayor on this file. While some are playing politics with this project and would like to accuse one or the other of the partners of all the wrongs, we keep in mind two fundamental objectives: to fight against congestion with a modern transport project and to benefit everyone. Quebec of the economic spinoffs of this investment by targeting the highest standards of local content in calls for tenders. These local content requirements were established in accordance with trade agreements and have been known to the City of Quebec since 2019. It seemed necessary to me to recall these facts.
Quebec-Lévis tunnel
With regard to the Quebec-Lévis tunnel project, we must underline the significant problem of mobility between Quebec and the South Shore. There is a strong trend that has taken hold for several years. In 1997, peak periods on current bridges lasted two hours. In 2017, these same peak periods reached three hours. The bridges are practically at their maximum capacity during these periods, which means that the throughputs of vehicles circulating per hour can no longer increase. And if the trend continues, rush hour will become more and more hellish on bridges, since the vehicle fleet in the territory of the Quebec Metropolitan Community is expected to drop from 546,019 to 633,678 vehicles over the next 10 years. .
When one examines the daily interconnections, the picture is not rosier. Between 2011 and 2017, they increased by 9.4%. Without the addition of a new link, these trips will increase by 8% by 2036. The Québec-Lévis tunnel will reduce the pressure on the bridges by collecting 15% of trips.
We also cannot ignore the age of bridges in our search for solutions to congestion. The Quebec Bridge is 102 years old and the Pierre-Laporte Bridge, 51 years old. They will therefore be respectively a little over 110 years old and 60 years old when the tunnel opens. The idea here is not to be catastrophic, but quite realistic. How many societies around the world would tolerate their populations being entirely dependent on such aging infrastructure without determining which ones will replace them?
It should be remembered that this new link, to the east, will allow the commissioning of an unprecedented public transport offer, 100% electric, it should be noted, between the centers of the two largest cities in eastern Quebec. It will also decongest the road network in the west of the region as well as provide greater fluidity for the transport of goods, shorter travel times for thousands of users and better resilience of the network.
In addition, for most of the useful life of the tunnel, there will only be zero emission cars running through it. Very quickly after its commissioning, it will no longer be possible to buy a gasoline vehicle in Quebec. Between 2035 and 2045, Quebec should witness the conversion of most of its vehicle fleet into zero-emission vehicles. However, the Québec-Lévis tunnel will have a useful life of 125 years. The construction of the tunnel will itself be carbon neutral. I know these facts do not suit some opponents of the tunnel, who mistakenly like to make it a symbol of increasing greenhouse gases, but the facts are the facts.
Urban sprawl
The Quebec-Lévis tunnel will also help rebalance land use planning in the Quebec City metropolitan region. Economic activity and residential development are directly influenced by the presence of major transportation infrastructure, I agree. But these same people who are worried about the urban sprawl that the Quebec-Lévis tunnel could generate towards the east, forget that there is currently one towards the west, where the two current bridges are located. On the south shore, most of the sectors with strong demographic growth are located west of the Pierre-Laporte Bridge and the Quebec Bridge. With a new interconnecting link uniting two city centers, it will be possible to densify central districts and bring economic activity closer to these centers. We will attract employers, private investors and developers of residential projects.
Far be it from me to claim that adding a tunnel between Lévis and Quebec City will not create any issue concerning land use planning. But these issues can be solved. To this end, the government will ensure, together with the cities concerned, that the future economic development that the tunnel will generate is supported in a sustainable perspective and for the protection of agricultural land.
The Réseau express de la Capitale is a vision for the future for public transit in the Quebec City metropolitan region. This vision will have structuring effects for the next 100 years in terms of both mobility and the economy of this magnificent region.
As several players in the business community underlined in a letter published on May 27, the projects for the tramway and the Quebec-Lévis tunnel should not be opposed, but well thought out together to improve mobility in the region for decades to come. . This is what our government intends to do with the Réseau express de la Capitale.
Finally, I know that such major projects as the tramway and the Québec-Lévis tunnel raise and will continue to raise questions and concerns, which is quite normal. Over the next few weeks, we will try to respond to as many people as possible on the Réseau express de la Capitale website (INSERT LINK).
Francois Bonnardel, Minister of Transport of Quebec