2 days ago
Quebec's long-awaited 3rd link will include a bridge and tunnel, minister says
Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault confirmed Thursday that her government has chosen a central corridor between Quebec City and Lévis for the third link project, which will consist of a bridge and tunnel.
Guilault said the chosen corridor was "the most optimal" and would connect Highway 20 and Highway 40 between Lévis and Quebec City.
"Already, there are a lot of people and enterprises and industries that are installed there," she said at a news conference.
Referencing President Donald Trump, Guilbault said there's a greater need for interprovincial trade and said the new link will help foster economic growth.
"We have to make sure that we have the proper infrastructure to be able to serve those ambitions and that we are not stuck with the problem of Pont Pierre-Laporte is closed and we're not able to have all those commercial exchanges," she said.
Other possible corridors were studied as potential sites for the project. But she says the chosen option responded best to the project's objectives, which include economic development, public transit, the shipment of goods and better flow of traffic.
She said a more precise route will be announce in the fall, after further study. While she did not reveal the cost of the project, she said ideally work could start in 2028.
A history of false starts
The announcement comes after years of discussion on the transport project.
In April 2023, the Quebec government scrapped plans to build a third link for vehicles between Quebec City and Lévis. The decision was made after Guilbault announced that the third link would be reserved for public transportation only and not be open to drivers.
She said the project would be substantially smaller than originally planned.
But six months later, after the Coalition Avenir Québec's defeat in a byelection in Quebec City's riding of Jean-Talon, Premier François Legault promised to consult with local residents, suggesting that the project could possibly be revived.
Almost exactly a year ago, Legault said the government was moving forward with the third link project for vehicles, despite warnings that another access point to Quebec City to from the South Shore wasn't justified.
CDPQ Infra, a subsidiary of Quebec's pension fund manager, recommended instead a $15.5-billion public transit project and several major transport solutions for the Quebec City region.
At Thursday's news conference, Guilbeault said "it's obvious" that the third link project is still needed. She said other parties "laugh" at the idea.
"They say that it's not serious — that we don't need it. So when they do that, they mock 70 per cent of the population of the Capitale Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches, which I think is weird," she said.
