With the abandonment of the third link project in the Quebec region, eyes are turning to the other links between the two shores: the bridges and the ferry. All three require major investments, and some experts even believe that they are not used “optimally”.
“It looks like the third link has taken all the oxygen,” laments Angèle Pineau-Lemieux, spokesperson for the organization Accès transports viables. “We have not demonstrated that we have optimized the two existing links. »
Inaugurated in 1970, the Pierre-Laporte bridge absorbs three-quarters of traffic flow between the two shores and all truck transport. It is almost used to its maximum capacity in terms of car traffic, with 107,000 passages per day on average.
Butme Pineau-Lemieux and others feel that not enough has been done to promote modal shift to public transit. “There are nine automobile lanes on the Quebec and Pierre-Laporte bridges combined. On top of that, there is a bike path that is not even functional, and there is no lane reserved for public transport. […] At the moment, we are setting up reserved lanes on the South Shore and on the North Shore, but not on the bridges! »
More and more voices are calling for the insertion of a reversible lane in the center of the Pierre-Laporte bridge that could change direction depending on traffic during rush hour. The Leader of the Opposition in Quebec City, Claude Villeneuve, has practically made it a hobby horse. “It could have been considered by the government for several years to improve fluidity, the results of which we would already see today if we had not obsessed over a tunnel that will not be built”, he declared recently to Radio Canada.
Last week, during the Ministry of Transport’s study of credits, Minister Geneviève Guilbault was questioned about this for a long time.
One of the studies relating to the third link, in 2021, which it had made public, concluded that the idea of a reversible lane was feasible in the “very short term” on the Pierre-Laporte bridge. The Inter-Rive Mobility Group, which carried out the study, suggested inserting it in the center of the bridge using a mobile slide.
Minister Guilbault reluctant
But Minister Guilbault remains skeptical. “It’s not a solution that should be seen simplistically as a panacea,” she replied when considering the credits. And to add that the width of the current six lanes would have to be narrowed to achieve this, which could pose “safety concerns”.
She also mentioned that the bottleneck during peak hours also stems from the development at the entrance to the bridges, where work is underway on the Quebec side. “Already, by redeveloping, it will help us to [assurer] fluidity on the bridges. »
This vast redevelopment project, which could exceed a billion dollars, is not very young. The first announcements in the file were made when the Liberals were in power, more than a decade ago. Coordinated with the commissioning of the tramway, the project should be completed in 2028.
During this time, the Pierre-Laporte bridge must also undergo major work.
It’s a missed opportunity. We don’t do work every five years… It’s a shame not to take advantage of it.
In June 2022, the issue Investigation revealed that the hangers — the vertical steel cables that connect the bridge deck to the top of the structure — were deteriorating and needed to be replaced. The work – which is spread out over time because only a few lines can be repaired at a time – will take years.
As for the old Quebec bridge, it had to be repainted at great expense, and the sharing of the bill estimated at $800 million gave rise to an interminable confrontation between Quebec, Ottawa and the Canadian National (its owner), who were fighting in this file since the 1990s, with no agreement yet reached. The federal government has agreed to buy it out in 2021, but negotiations are dragging on. Businessman Yvon Charest, who was appointed in 2019 to move the case forward, was hoping for a settlement last January.
Work is also on the program to renovate the deck of this century-old cantilever bridge. However, the project does not include the lowering of said deck, which is nevertheless necessary if one day one wishes to install a heavy mode of transport on the structure, deplores Angèle Pineau-Lemieux. “It’s a missed opportunity. We don’t do work every five years… It’s a shame not to take advantage of it. »
Target “major priority corridors”
An opinion shared by Fanny Tremblay-Racicot, professor of municipal administration at the National School of Public Administration. “We should install a high-level service bus or tram on the Quebec Bridge,” she argues.
The modal shift from cars to public transit is particularly crucial in the Quebec region, she argues, because transportation is responsible for more than 50% of greenhouse gases, well above the average of 45% for the whole territory.
Remember that the tramway project in Quebec will not cross the river to the South Shore. However, the line will stop near the bridges on Laurier Boulevard in a future interchange. People who travel by bus in the morning from Lévis to Québec could however transit there.
For meme Tremblay-Racicot, it is frankly distressing that the Quebec region does not have a single transport company, such as the Agence régionale de transport métropolitain in Montreal, which could target “major priority corridors”.
“When the buses of the Société de transport de Lévis (STL) come to Quebec to drop off people, they cannot pick them up,” she points out. “If, at least, there was a merger or ways to improve inter-shore public transit links, it would at least be good management. The idea is not new, she points out, since it is exactly what the Communauté métropolitaine de Québec advocated in its Metropolitan Land Use and Development Plan in 2012. The document advocated “the harmonization of services of transport on the scale of the metropolitan territory”.
Car-free ferries
The ferries remain. Another service which is far from optimal and which also requires considerable work. “We have to plan the rest because the boats are reaching the end of their life”, notes Mme Tremblay-Racicot. The problem, she says, is that the Société des traversiers du Québec plans to replace them with river shuttles for cyclists and pedestrians, which cars will not be able to use.
However, access to the ferries is difficult when you don’t have a vehicle. On the Quebec side, it is not connected to a high-frequency public transport service. It’s the same thing on the side of Lévis, but, in addition, you have to climb a good hill to reach the city, an additional difficulty if you are on a bike, for example.
Angèle Pineau-Lemieux recounts having experienced public transit the hard way last year when she tried to go without a car to a meeting in Lévis from Quebec. “I wanted to take the ferry on foot and take the bus on arrival. I had to wait 45 minutes for a bus, which was going to make me take a big detour. So, I decided to walk and arrived at my meeting sweating. It was clearly not optimal. »