Peter Black

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Peterblack@qctonline.com

Buoyed by the spectacular success of Phase 3 of the Promenade Samuel de Champlain project, the Quebec government is moving on to the fourth and final stage of the waterfront redevelopment.

The government is expected to make an announcement soon, calling for consultations on what to do with the approximately 10-kilometre stretch between Baie de Beauport and Montmorency Falls.

Jonatan Julien, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) minister responsible for the national capital region, publicly made the commitment at the July inauguration of Phase 3 of the Promenade Champlain, which completed the reclaiming of the shorefront from Côte Gilmour to Cap-Rouge.

With Premier François Legault in attendance, Julien said, “We have to find the best way to continue this Promenade. We want an idea competition with specialists and experts who will look into this question to offer us the best possibilities with the objective we have.”

Julien confirmed the commitment to Phase 4 at an announcement at the end of August, although he did not offer a timeline for when the government wants to see work begin.

Observers have noted two developments which have helped clear the way for Phase 4, notably the CAQ government’s decision to drop its plan for a third-link tunnel under the St. Lawrence River, and the abandonment of the Port of Quebec’s plan to build the massive Laurentia cargo terminal in the vicinity of the Baie de Beauport.

Le Soleil municipal affairs columnist François Bourque noted that the “addition of a highway tunnel exit on Dufferin-Montmorency would have jeopardized the possibility of transforming it into an urban boulevard. Access to the river would have remained difficult and the general quality of the project would have suffered.”

Phase 4 would face a similar, if not more difficult challenge, as Phase 3, with a Canadian National railway line running along the river creating a barrier to access. For Phase 3, difficult negotiations with the railway company delayed the plan to move the tracks away from the waterfront and close to the promontory.

Neither Julien nor Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault has made a commitment to the transformation of Autoroute Dufferin-Montmorency into an urban boulevard.

As Bourque pointed out, “The Special Urban Planning Program (PPU) for the Estimauville district adopted in 2013 (revised in 2016) also calls for an urban boulevard and for a direct link with the Baie de Beauport.”

It reads: “Access to the river and the recreational tourism facilities located on its banks is essential for the development of the Estimauville sector.”

In anticipation of the upcoming “idea competition,” a group that’s been advocating for years for Phase 4 issued a nine-point manifesto in mid-September on essential features for the redevelopment and how the government should proceed.

The Table citoyenne Littoral Est said, “If accessibility to the river and improvement of road safety are obvious needs, the creation of real biodiversity corridors with a large place for revegetation and the restoration of natural environments are also essential expectations.”

The group wants the government to seek public input before summoning the experts for ideas. “Consultations made several years ago must be updated to reflect the context of climate change, the reality of which has been highlighted by the summer we have just experienced, heightened environmental sensitivity and evolving expectations and planning principles.”

The Table has created a video about the principles of a proposed Phase 4 project, featured on its website, littoralcitoyen.org.