third link

Government submits third link project to environmental review

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

Government submits third link project to environmental review

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The Coalition Avenir Québec government is forging ahead with its plan to build a third link between Quebec City and Lévis.

Last week, Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault, the minister leading the project, announced the plan for a combination bridge and tunnel would be submitted for environmental analysis.

“This new step,” an Aug. 28 news release stated, “is a prerequisite for the impact study, the environmental analysis by the ministry of the environment, the fight against climate change, wildlife and parks (MELCCFP) as well as the work of the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE).”

Guilbault added, “This procedure, which is crucial for the realization of the third link between Quebec City and Lévis, confirms that the project is progressing in a concrete, efficient, and responsible manner.”

In June, Guilbault announced the choice of a corridor for the third link, with the bridge connecting Autoroute 20 on the South Shore with Autoroute 40 on the North Shore. It would enter a tunnel somewhere along Boul. Champlain and emerge some three kilometres later to connect with either Boul. Pierre-Bertrand or Autoroute Robert-Bourassa.

As part of the environmental assessment process, there will be a 30-day online public consultation period organized by the environment ministry.

The ministry release said, “The various analyses carried out as part of the impact study will enable the ministry to optimize the project design to limit the impact on the environment and ensure bet- ter integration of the new inter-shore link into its host environment.”

In the wake of Guilbault’s announcement, the question arose about how much farther Guilbault herself will be pushing the third link process. As of this writing, there were reports Premier François Legault would be removing Guilbault, the MNA for the Louis-Hébert riding, as transport minister in an expected major cabinet shuffle.

Meanwhile, an intense program of drilling and soil testing is underway to provide data to determine which route the third link corridor would take on the north and south shores.

According to a report in the Journal de Québec, drilling has already been done in some 100 sites between Lévis and Quebec City with more in the works. The report said the government has already spent at least $33 million on the drilling program, not including the 50 sites being drilled this summer.

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Guilbault gets $275 million to make third link bridge-tunnel irreversible

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Guilbault gets $275 million to make third link bridge-tunnel irreversible

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault has said on several occasions her goal is to make the “third link” project ir- reversible.

With an election slated for October next year that polls suggest may oust the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government, the window is closing for Guilbault to push the bridge- tunnel plan past the point of no return.

Last week, according to several media reports confirmed by Guilbault’s office, the CAQ cabinet approved $275 million in funding to allow the minister to move forward on the project, one the government has revised, cancelled and then revived again, arguing that a third bridge is necessary for economic and security reasons.

A spokesperson for the minister said the money accorded Guilbault was already in the 2019 infrastructure budget and not “new money.”

In June, Guilbault announced the government’s recommended route for the proposed link, a bridge from Autoroute 40 in Lévis to be connected to a tunnel to be bored somewhere in the Cap Diamant area on the North Shore and exiting to connect with either Boul. Pierre-Bertrand or Autoroute Robert-Bourassa.

At the time of her announce- ment of the route, Guilbault said, “In my mind, I want to make the project irreversible before the next election, and therefore protect it from the outcome of the next election.

“We’re no longer in the ‘for or against’ debate about the third link. We need to create a third link, and I’m working on how to complete it as quickly as possible. We’re going to create the best project at the best price.”

Guilbault said she will reveal more details on the route and the projected cost sometime in the fall. A recent Radio-Canada report cited experts who have pegged the cost of building the third link at between $5.3 and $9.3 billion, not including many associated costs.

The federal government has distanced itself from the project and possible financ- ing. Minister of Government Services and Procurement Joël Lightbound, the MP for Louis-Hébert, said at the time of Guilbault’s route announcement, “The federal government’s position doesn’t really change, because there isn’t a project that has really been put forward.”

In the past, the federal Liberals have said a third link project that gave priority to car and truck traffic as opposed to public transit would not be eligible for funding.

The quarter-billion dollars accorded Guilbault for the third link raised the ire of the Opposition Quebec Liberal Party. In a statement to the QCT, Monsef Derraji, critic for transport, said, “At a time when Quebec is facing serious financial challenges, it’s hard to justify allocating $275 million to a third-link project that lacks a clear route, timeline, or solid scientific backing.”

He said, “While the CAQ government is making cuts to health and education, it is pouring hundreds of millions into a project with no proven necessity. This isn’t just poor planning – it’s a matter of misplaced priorities.”

Radio-Canada also uncovered concrete evidence the third link project is advancing on the ground. It reported geotechnical drilling to determine the quality and composition of the ground is to be done on some 50 sites on both the south and north shores, as well as in the St. Lawrence River itself. The work started in early July and is expected to be completed in September.

The $46-million contract for the work was awarded in February to a consortium comprising French, American and Canadian engineering firms.

Guilbault gets $275 million to make third link bridge-tunnel irreversible Read More »

Marchand meets Carney, talks transit with Guilbault

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Marchand meets Carney, talks transit with Guilbault

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Mayor Bruno Marchand got to talk transit matters with Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault on April 23, a meeting the mayor had sought to get explanations for recent government moves.

The two, along with Infrastructure and capital region Minister Jonatan Julien, met for 90 minutes at Guilbault’s ministry office. After the meeting, only Marchand spoke with reporters.

The meeting became an urgent matter for the mayor in light of cuts to major transportation projects in the city contained in the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s March 25 budget.

The projects are the construction of a large garage for the city’s fleet of electric buses, the creation of reserved lanes for buses on freeways in the city, and a further phase of the reconfiguration of roads accessing the two bridges.

These cuts came to light just as it became known the CAQ government had awarded a $46-million contract for planning work for the third link – a bridge across the St. Lawrence River.

Marchand told reporters the talks were cordial and “everyone had the courage and strength to tell each other what they thought.”

He said, “We offered them alternative solutions, interim solutions, because the work is currently not progressing. We are working with them to find solutions, particularly to ensure that the money that has been invested is not wasted.”

Some of that money – specifically $203 million for the electric bus garage – comes from the federal government. Federal funding for Quebec City projects was likely on the agenda when Marchand had an impromptu breakfast meeting April 22 with Prime Minister and Liberal Leader Mark Carney.

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Duclos, Deltell clash over tramway, third link in local debate

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Duclos, Deltell clash over tramway, third link in local debate

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The future of Quebec City’s transit was a flash- point between Liberal and Conservative candidates in a debate on local issues organized by Radio-Canada on April 15.

With Téléjournal host Bruno Savard serving as moderator, the debate was a 45-minute exchange between Liberal incumbent for Québec-Centre Jean-Yves Duclos, Bloc Québécois challenger Simon Bérubé, New Democrat Tommy Bureau, running for the third time in the downtown riding, and Conservative Gérard Deltell, the incumbent MP for the Louis- Saint-Laurent–Akiawenhrahk riding.

Deltell represented the Conservatives in the absence of a candidate for the party in Québec-Centre. The intended candidate, Chanie Thériault, had been disqualified for not having filed required documents on time.

The debate was divided into two themes: the economy and mobility. A third segment at the end of the debate featured recorded questions from voters.

While there was a certain amount of back-and-forth about the financing and building of housing in the city, the debate over the two major transit projects in the works – the tramway and the third link – generated sharp confrontations between Duclos and Deltell, both veteran MPs first elected in 2015.

The showdown started with a question from Savard to Duclos, asking whether the federal government was prepared to pay 40 per cent of the cost of the tramway as the Quebec government expects, and, also, if Ottawa is an “ally” of the project, why the $1.5 billion it promised for the tramway was not made official before the election was called.

Duclos responded by listing the economic benefits of the tramway, including an estimated 20,000 construction jobs and stimulated investments of $500 million a year. He then challenged Deltell to answer whether a Conservative government would cancel Montreal’s blue line Metro project like leader Pierre Poilievre said he would do for Quebec City’s tramway.

Duclos said Poilievre wants to take the money for Quebec City’s project and invest in transit in his hometown of Calgary.

Savard then asked Deltell what the Conservatives would propose instead of a “structured” transit system for Quebec City. Deltell said the tramway does not have social acceptance, while the third link bridge project between Quebec City and Lévis does.

Deltell said to Duclos, “I find it really unfortunate that you keep repeating, repeating, repeating a lie. The $1.4 billion will stay in Quebec; is that clear? In Quebec, when Mr. Duclos says that he [Poilievre] is going to steal it from us, that’s a lie.”

When asked about the tramway, Bloc candidate Bérubé said, “There is a bad habit of both parties, which is to interfere in mobility projects here in Quebec. When Quebec decides to move forward with a project, the federal government’s role is simply to provide the money, without interfering in the design or form of the project.”

When Savard later asked whether Duclos supported the third link project, the Liberal MP opted to mention that a $3-billion fund would be available from the federal government to provide additional support for the tramway.

In an ensuing exchange with Deltell, the Conservative asked Duclos why he supports a project the people don’t want.

He then challenged the former minister to declare whether he supported the third link project. “I know you were a political lieutenant in Quebec, but [Liberal Leader] Mr. [Mark] Carney kicked you out. You’re a Quebec MP. Are you for or against the third link? It’s not a venereal disease; are you for or against? Duclos replied that federal funding depends on whether there is a public transit component to the bridge, but the Quebec government has not yet provided “a plan, a route nor a budget.”

The NDP’s Bureau said, regarding the tramway, “The money [from the federal government] should have been giv- en a long time ago to Quebec, which wants this project. And as for Mr. Deltell, I can’t wait to see what you’re going to do with the $1.4 billion. I’m expecting reserved lanes for F150s [pickup trucks].”

In the section for questions from the public via video, Sandra Nodari, a Brazilian immigrant and postdoctoral student at UQAM, asked the candidates how they would “address immigration issues without causing hardship for immigrants who are already well-established in housing, working and doing well?”

Duclos said, “Immigration is good for Quebec, it’s good for Canada; our diversity is a source of strength and pride. … We need to better recognize their expertise, including in health, but that’s done with the Quebec government. It’s not the federal government that will decide these things. The same goes for integration and francisation.”

Deltell, who noted he is the son of immigrants, said, “We currently have 20,000 doctors from abroad who are not yet recognized, and 30,000 nurses. We need this staff. We need all this talent that will meet our needs … We are committed to accelerating the process to en- able successful immigration.”

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CAQ attacked for $46-million third link contract

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CAQ attacked for $46-million third link contract

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The awarding of a $46-million contract for the “third link” Quebec City-Lévis bridge project by the Quebec government is drawing fire from the National Assembly and Quebec City Hall.

The contract, which first came to light in a report in La Presse, was awarded in February to an international consortium called Parsons- Artelia-Hatch. It “includes professional support to determine the route and type of infrastructure,” according to Quebec transport ministry spokesperson Nicolas Vigneault.

“These elements are essential for the tendering phase, which will allow the selection of partners such as the project builder and designer,” Vigneault said.

There were four consortia bidding on the contract.

In addition to the latest contract, some $36 million has already been spent since 2018 on developing plans for the third link.

Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault is expected to give an update on progress of the project next month and announce a chosen route by the summer.

A downtown-to-downtown crossing has been ruled out; the other options being examined are two routes to the east towards Île d’Orléans, and two to the west towards the existing Pierre Laporte and Quebec bridges.

While Lévis Mayor Gilles Lehouillier, a longtime advocate of a third link, welcomed progress on the project, critics denounced it as an affront to Quebec City’s proposed tramway system.

The awarding of the contract for the bridge comes in the wake of recent cuts or delays in existing Quebec City transit projects, such as a network of dedicated urban transit lanes, a highway overpass and reconfiguration of approaches to the bridges.

Transition Québec Leader, mayoral candidate and Limoilou Coun. Jackie Smith said in a statement, “I thank Ministers Geneviève Guilbault and [Minister for the Capital Region] Jonatan Julien for demonstrating that all the money for Quebec City’s transportation goes to the third link. This project is not good for Quebec City. We’re tired of being taken for fools.”

Liberal MNA Marwah Rizqy said on X, “While Quebec’s credit rating is downgraded and vermin and rodents are taking up residence at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital [in Montreal] … the CAQ is getting out its chequebook for the third link.”

Meanwhile, Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand has staked out a more prudent stance on the third link project. He told reporters before last week’s council meeting that he is taking a wait-and-see approach.

“I dare hope that Ms. Guilbault, when she proposes her route, will say, ‘Here’s how it improves [transit].’ They’ll have time to show us that for the citizens of Quebec City, it’s a win-win situation, that it’s not just a win-win situation for the citizens of Lévis.”

Other mayoral candidates have taken a position in favour of a new bridge. Québec d’Abord and Opposition Leader Claude Villeneuve gave his conditional approval to the project. During a media scrum at the National Assembly earlier this month, Villeneuve said, “I commit to acting as a partner in its implementation if it meets the needs of the people of Quebec City.”

His conditions would be that the bridge would not impede ship traffic on the St. Lawrence River, that it would integrate with Promenade Samuel-De Champlain and the urban boulevard on Autoroute Dufferin-Montmorency and that it would not add congestion on Highway 40 westbound.

Former provincial Liberal minister Sam Hamad, who jumped into the mayor’s race on April 6, has said he is opposed to the current tramway plan but is open to the building of a new bridge.

There remain many steps ahead before construction would start on a new bridge. Once the route is chosen, a designer and builder of the project would not be selected until next year and a contract not signed until 2027.

CAQ attacked for $46-million third link contract Read More »

CAQ to hold info sessions on ‘third link’ as details leak

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

CAQ to hold info sessions on ‘third link’ as details leak 

Peter Black

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peteblack@qctonline.com

Residents will have an opportunity to learn more about options for the “third link” at information sessions recently announced by Transport and Sustainable Mobility Minister Genevieve Guilbault, to be held on Feb. 26 in Quebec City and Feb. 27 in Lévis.

According to a press release, “Representatives from the ministry will be on site to provide information, gather participants’ impressions and answer questions concerning, in particular, the corridors under study as well as the current and future stages of the project.”

The session in Quebec City will be at the Travelodge Hotel on Blvd. Hochelaga, and the Lévis one at the Lévis Convention Centre, on Rue J-B Michaud. Both sessions run from 3 to 8 p.m.

The announcement of the sessions comes as information about the routes being studied leaks out. A Quebec Solidaire MNA said he has documents from a transport ministry whistleblower that the government favours a downtown-to-downtown tunnel. (See separate story below).

A Radio-Canada report, based on leaked documents, said bridges built to the east of the downtown areas of Quebec City and Lévis “would contravene almost all government guidelines on land use planning. Analyses by the Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable (MTMD) reveal several points that are ‘incompatible’ if the option favoured by the Legault government comes to fruition.”

The study, which examined several possible “third link” scenarios, including two bridge routes to the east, the option initially favoured by Premier Francois Legault, indicated the project would involve “a significant encroachment on several forest areas, wetlands and more than 77 hectares of agricultural land on the South Shore, the equivalent of nearly 150 football fields.”

The report also revealed the two eastern bridge routes would “result in the demolition of several residences and apartment blocks along Sainte-Anne Boulevard and the demolition of around 10 residential properties on the South Shore.”

There is one positive element about a bridge to the east mentioned in the report obtained by Radio-Canada: It would “promote the attractiveness of the territories and the dynamism of the communities in addition to connecting industrial zones and existing employment centres. This is the only government orientation in regional planning compatible with both scenarios.”

In an interview with the Journal de Quebec, Guilbault said the leaks about bridge and tunnel studies are likely coming from people within the civil service  “who oppose the project, just like the three opposition parties.”

The opposition at city hall reacted to the latest CAQ controversy over its plans for a bridge or tunnel.

Official Opposition and Québec d’Abord Leader Claude Villeneuve told a city hall media scrum, “I look at the government’s conduct on the third link and I can’t help but draw a parallel with what Donald Trump is doing on tariffs … there’s a kind of chaos that’s created. It means that we only talk about that and we don’t talk about other subjects anymore.”

Limoilou Coun. and Transition Quebec Leader Jackie Smith said the recent revelations are “proof beyond any doubt that this project must be stopped. We must end the project and kill the third link.”

She said, “It is absurd that … Guilbault is so attached to a project that makes no sense. She is ready to force a third link down our throats in the east despite the expertise of her own department’s officials.” 

The minister, for her part, noted in the release announcing the information sessions, that “23 companies responded to the international call for interest launched on Oct. 11, 2024 … The number and reputation of the participating companies confirm that our project for a third link between Quebec City and Lévis is serious and credible.”

She added, “I invite all citizens of the Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches regions who are interested to come and learn more about the steps we have taken and those that await us.”

Full details on the information sessions can be found on the website: Quebec.ca/troisiemelien. 

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Guilbault: 23 companies interested in third link project

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Guilbault: 23 companies interested in third link project

Peter Black

peterblack@qctonline.com

Calling it “excellent news,” Transport Minister and Louis- Hébert MNA Geneviève Guilbault announced last week that 23 companies have responded to the “international call for interest” in the proposed project to build a third link between Quebec City and Lévis.

The minister convened a news conference on Nov. 27 to make the announcement, less than seven weeks after she had issued the call on Oct. 11. Companies had 30 days to submit a proposal to take part in the process.

Guilbault said 29 companies had requested the required documentation to prepare a proposal, and 23 of those officially threw their hats in the ring.

“Twenty-three companies is a lot,” Guilbault said. “When we look at this type of call for interest procedure, we don’t do it systematically in all projects, we do it occasion- ally in major projects … Of all the times we’ve made calls for interest, this is the time when the most companies have shown interest.”

The transport ministry has engaged consultants KPMG to “organize interviews between interested companies and representatives of the ministry. The results of these meetings will then be analyzed independently,” according to a news release.

Guilbault said that with the application process, “We were ultimately testing two things: interest in a project and inter- est in doing this project in a collaborative mode with the Quebec government, and the response was more than positive. I must tell you, obviously, when we launch these types of procedures, we do not know in advance what the result will be.”

Guilbault rejected talk of adapting the Quebec Bridge, recently repatriated by the federal government, as an op- tion for heavy vehicle traffic. “[D]espite everything I hear from the federal government … about the Quebec Bridge, the reality is that it is not an option for trucking, and we need a third link to ensure the security of freight transporta- tion in particular.”

The minister said she would report back on the results of the vetting process “in early 2025.”

Of the 23 interested companies, Guilbault said 65 per cent are engineering firms, 30 per cent contractors and the rest management firms. Some 13 of the companies are identified on the government’s publicly accessible tender website, although Guilbault only named two, Ingerop, a British-French firm, and Construction Demathieu & Bard, whose head office is in Saint-Jérôme.

If all goes according to plan, Guilbault hopes to see a contract to build the link signed in 2027, construction start the next year, and the structure open in 2034-2035. No budget has been set for the project.

Guilbault: 23 companies interested in third link project Read More »

CAQ commits to ‘third link’ with call for ‘international interest’

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

CAQ commits to ‘third link’ with call for ‘international interest’

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The Coalition Avenir Québec government is moving ahead with its off-again, on-again pledge to build a third link between Quebec City and the South Shore.

Transport Minister and Deputy Premier Geneviève Guilbault made the announcement on Oct. 11 of an “international call for interest” to parties to be considered as a partner in the development of the project.

Vowing that whatever option is decided will be “the best project at the best price,” Guilbault said if all goes according to plan a contract would be signed to build the link in early 2027.

Addressing a news conference in Complexe G following a technical briefing by transport ministry officials, Guilbault said the call for interest “marks an important step in the third link project, which will allow us to confirm the market’s interest in our project. I am convinced that we will arrive at the best solution to meet the fluidity needs of our citizens on both shores.”

The minister said the two principal objectives of the third link would be to ensure economic security for commercial transport in the event of the Pierre Laporte Bridge being closed and to reduce traffic congestion in the region.

Guilbault said the choice of which corridor the link would take would be decided by next summer, based on options identified in the report by the Caisse de depôt et placement Infra presented in June.

In a previous announcement of a third link proposal, the CAQ government had envisioned a bridge between the eastern ends of Lévis and Quebec City. A proposal prior to that envisioned a tunnel between the downtowns of the two cities.

Asked by the QCT how much influence politicians would have on the ultimate choice of a corridor, Guilbault said, “It’s too early to determine a specific corridor,” pending the submission of recommenda- tions from interested parties.

She also said having a bridge with enough clearance to allow for cruise ships to enter port in Quebec City or Lévis “would be taken into consideration.”

Transport officials and the minister did not exclude a tunnel as a preferred option, nor would they commit to the third link being used for public transit such as the tramway system.

Guilbault said in two years, after the next scheduled pro- vincial election, “we will be at a level of the evolution of the process [where] it will be irreversible.”

She said since all the op- position parties are opposed to the third link idea, the CAQ is the only one that is pursuing it. “People will realize we are actually doing it for real.”

Guilbault acknowledged the CAQ’s “credibility is at stake” with the third link project. “We have to demonstrate we are resolutely committed to the realization” of the project.

Opposition critics were quick to denounce this latest move by the CAQ. Liberal transport critic Monsef Derraji said in a statement, “It’s clear that this announcement is more about diverting attention from other issues than it is about genuinely advancing mobility in the greater Quebec City area. Should the CAQ lose power after 2026, this commitment could easily crumble. It all appears more like a campaign promise than a real solution.”

Québec Solidaire MNA for Jean-Lesage Sol Zanetti told reporters, “We will talk about it [the third link] for decades as the symbol of the promise of the electoral bauble that will never happen, that is irresponsible, that costs a lot, and that is useless.”

Parti Québécois MNA for Jean-Talon Pascal Paradis said, “There will be no project. It won’t happen. What we are being presented with today is a fabrication, a smokescreen.”

Guilbault would not commit to a price tag for the potential bridge or tunnel, saying it would be determined as the planning process proceeds. She highlighted the new collaborative approach the government is taking, saying, “[T]he government will work closely with the designer and the builder from the first stages of the project design.”

A series of calls for tenders will be launched in the spring “to obtain the professional services and support required throughout the project. A first call for tenders aimed at ob- taining consulting services in insurance and financial guarantees will be published in the coming weeks.”

The building of a third link was a CAQ promise in the 2018 election that brought the party to power. At the time, the party vowed that the project would be underway by the end of its first mandate.

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