The third link would change for the umpteenth time. The twin-tube announced in 2022 would now include a tunnel exclusively dedicated to public transport, according to information reported by Radio-Canada.
This information mentions that the government would consider devoting one of the two tunnels of the third link to public transport. A tram or electric buses could thus circulate freely. A second tunnel dedicated to cars would have two floors, each allowing traffic in one direction.
Prime Minister François Legault was stingy with details on Tuesday when pressed with questions by journalists, refusing to confirm or deny information from the state-owned company. “We have had new traffic studies done, including the impacts of telework. In a few weeks, [la ministre des Transports] Geneviève Guilbault will make a proposal, said the chief caquiste. We have nothing to add at this time. »
Present at his side for the now official entry of the Davie shipyard into the Canadian naval strategy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is impatient to know the new version of the third link. “As always, we can’t wait,” he said. We will continue to be open to any project that comes from our side”. Would this new version attract federal funding? Prime Minister Trudeau refused to get wet.
Ottawa is investing heavily in public transit projects, but has repeatedly repeated that its budget does not fund highway projects. Last year, when the Minister of Transport at the time, François Bonnardel, presented the twin-tube, he said he was counting on the federal government to pay half the bill.
Asked by the solidarity Étienne Grandmont about the new version of the third link, the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Geneviève Guilbault, indicated that she had read about its existence “in the newspapers this morning”.
“I learn, almost every week, a new version of the third link in the newspapers,” continued the Deputy Prime Minister at the Blue Room, comparing the new information reported about the twin tube to “hearsay”.
The mayor of Lévis, Gilles Lehouillier, does not take offense at this new government change, provided that the third link still reserves a place for automobile transport. “The idea of the tram interests me enormously, indicated the elected representative of the south shore. If we had an underground tramway, it would even look oddly like a metro. »
The government would have recently put the cities of Quebec and Lévis in the scent of this new twin tube which would henceforth be dedicated to public transport. However, the mayor of Lévis could not specify the amount of the possible invoice that would accompany this new third link. “Honestly, I have no idea. »
During his recent stay in Scandinavia, the mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand – whose appetite for the third link has always seemed mixed – opened the door to a tunnel entirely devoted to public transport. “I have not seen the new plans, indicated the mayor of Quebec at a press conference on Tuesday. What we have seen is a leak of a project in the media. Will this be the project chosen by the government? I will wait to know more before commenting. »
The tiles seem to be adding up on the third link for a few months. The air quality in the lower town of Quebec has recently been the subject of two scientific studies which both point to road transport as a major contributor to pollution in the sector.
The hesitation of the government, which says it is “determined” to carry out the project but which has not, for the moment, provided any study justifying its relevance, is also beginning to raise eyebrows among the most convinced.