William Crooks
David Bombardier, liaison officer with the City of Sherbrooke, speaks during the Apr. 3 press conference outlining the 2025 construction season

By William Crooks

Local Journalism Initiative

Sherbrooke will see an unprecedented $74.9 million in roadwork and infrastructure projects this summer, the highest investment since 2020. At a press conference on Apr. 3, city officials presented a detailed breakdown of 97 planned interventions, including resurfacing, sewer reconstruction, sidewalk construction, and cycling infrastructure.

“Talking about roadwork may not be glamorous, but it affects all of us,” said Sherbrooke Mayor Évelyne Beaudin, the first of four speakers. “This year marks a record level of investment.”

According to Beaudin, $49.8 million will be spent on surface roadwork, while $25.1 million is allocated to water systems, environmental cleanup, and project planning for future years. “We’ve significantly increased the city’s investments,” she said, citing a 94 per cent rise in sewer and aqueduct work, a 50 per cent jump in paving, and a 12 per cent boost in active transportation.

She also underscored Sherbrooke’s hybrid construction model. “It’s pretty rare in Québec,” Beaudin said. “A good portion of our work is done by internal teams, which makes us more agile and allows us to start earlier in the season.”

What to expect: The city’s most disruptive work sites

While over 90 projects are scheduled across the city, several will cause significant and lasting disruptions. Among them:

• King Ouest, between Léger/Bertrand-Fabi and Sauvé/Comtois, will see reduced lanes for more than two weeks. With around 50,000 vehicles daily, it’s among the city’s busiest arteries.
• Boulevard de l’Université and rue Galt Ouest, near Autoroute 410, will undergo resurfacing expected to last at least four weeks.
• The King/Jacques-Cartier intersection will be under construction for approximately a week, with night-time work scheduled to limit daytime congestion.
• In the downtown core, Wellington Sud will be completely closed for a month as part of a private developer’s project. After that, sporadic closures are expected to continue for nearly a year.
• The Jacques-Cartier Bridge, under the authority of the MTMD, will see months of disruptions, contributing to long-term slowdowns.
• In Fleurimont, Bowen Sud will be completely closed for three weeks for underground infrastructure reconstruction.
• In Lennoxville, only minor work is planned, including a two-day closure of the St. Francis bridge near Bishop’s University for paving.

All works are listed on the city’s interactive construction map at sherbrooke.ca/travaux.

Focus on active transport and school safety

Director of engineering Caroline Gravel detailed the scope of 2025’s work: 3.3 kilometres of underground infrastructure reconstruction and 16.4 kilometres of surface paving. “We’re doing 12 major reconstruction projects and 25 repaving jobs,” she said. “These range from major intersections like King and Jacques-Cartier to smaller local streets.”

Projects to support walking and cycling are prominent in this year’s plans. Eleven new sidewalks totalling 4.3 kilometres will be added, and at least five new cycling links—totaling 3.8 kilometres—will be created, including routes on Wellington Sud, Aberdeen, McManamy, McCrea, and Quatre-Saisons.

“We used to measure success in kilometres,” said Beaudin. “Now, we focus on connectivity and the ability to intervene where it’s most needed.”

Fifteen school zones will also be upgraded for safety, along with eleven crosswalks and five intersections across the city.

New tools to keep citizens informed

Élise Arguin, liaison officer for public communications, presented the city’s strategy for keeping residents up to date. In addition to social media and mailed letters, the MonSherbrooke.ca portal and its “Chantier dans ma rue” feature are at the centre of the plan.

“This tool allows us to communicate directly with people affected by work on their street,” Arguin said. “They receive updates in real time, and they can even submit questions or requests.”

The system’s effectiveness was illustrated by an example from last fall, when a resident asked where to place garbage bins on a newly modified street. The city responded with photos and shared the answer with all subscribers on that street. “We didn’t get any more questions after that,” Arguin said.

More money, more scrutiny

When reporters had the opportunity to ask questions, the mayor was asked why this year’s total is so much higher. “It’s largely because of funding availability,” Beaudin explained. “We’re now in a new subsidy cycle. Last year, we had to prioritise based on strict funding rules. This year, we can do more surface work.”

Asked whether the funding decisions were influenced by Québec’s 2025 provincial budget, Beaudin responded that the projects were already planned in advance, as part of multi-year programs funded by both provincial and federal governments.

She also acknowledged the limits of relying on conditional funding. “Most of this money comes with strings attached. It forces us to prioritise based on program rules, not always local needs,” she said. “We would strongly prefer direct funding without conditions.”

How priorities are set

When pressed on how the city chose which neighbourhoods would benefit, Beaudin said complaints are inevitable. “Even if we put every dollar into roads and nothing else, it wouldn’t be enough,” she said. “We’ve given our technical teams as much autonomy as possible to identify where intervention is most urgent.”

The city uses diagnostic data on pavement condition and infrastructure performance to guide planning. “It’s not a political decision about who gets what,” said Beaudin. “It’s about where the need is greatest and where the intervention will be most effective.”

What about Lennoxville?

In response to The Record’s observation that Lennoxville appears to be largely left out of this year’s plans, the liaison officer with the City of Sherbrooke, David Bombardier confirmed that only minor work is planned.

“There’s nothing major,” said Bombardier. “Some work is planned on Mitchell and two days of paving on the St. Francis bridge near Bishop’s University, but that’s it.”

Beaudin acknowledged the concern, noting that with only so much funding and staff available, some sectors must wait. “We have to balance urgency with feasibility,” she said.

Still, residents across the city—including Lennoxville—can expect some disruption as projects roll out between April and November. “People will need to stay informed and flexible this summer,” Beaudin said. “The good news is, most interruptions should be short-lived.”