The Quebec government has issued an international call for proposals in what it says is its first concrete step toward turning the long-discussed third link project into reality. However, a contract would only be signed after the next provincial election.
As of today, interested groups will have 30 days to submit their vision for the project and a preliminary plan will be unveiled to the public next summer, said Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault at a press conference Friday morning.
The third link, connecting Quebec City to Lévis, Que., will be delivered collaboratively between the province and its chosen business partners.
Guilbault says she hopes to complete as many steps as possible in the next two years so as to make the realization of the project “irreversible.” But, ultimately the final contract would have to be signed in 2027 by the government that wins the election expected in 2026.
“When you have serious people putting together an application to be selected for the potential third link consortium, it starts to be a little irresponsible when you say you’re going to commit to this project and then pull out overnight,” she said, pointing to the governing Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) as the only party that supports the project.
Since it came to power in 2018, François Legault’s CAQ government has set creating a third transportation link across the St. Lawrence River in Quebec City as one of its priorities. But the project has been questioned and changed at several points.
Guilbault says the government doesn’t know where exactly the third link will be, but that it’s proposing an intervention area delimited by the current Pierre Laporte Bridge and the western coast of Île-d’Orléans.
“We don’t want to go on the Île-d’Orléans,” said Guilbault.
In a recent mobility study, CDPQ Infra identified a few corridors in the area, two of which were considered potentially viable and worth further analysis.
Overall, the subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) — Quebec’s public pension fund manager — said the third link wasn’t justified in terms of mobility gains as it would reduce commute time for motorists heading into Quebec City by five minutes on average.
Guilbault open to different options
The third link could take the shape of a bridge or even a tunnel, said Guilbault, adding that she’s open to all options as long as vehicles and commercial trucks are able to pass through.
The project’s objective is twofold: to provide an alternative route for goods in case anything were to happen to the Pierre Laporte Bridge, and improve fluidity of traffic between Quebec City and Lévis.
“At this point it is way too early to exclude or prefer any option [over another] whether it’s the type of infrastructure or the cost,” said Guilbault.
She says cruise ships will also be taken into account, “because it’s an important industry here in Quebec.”
The CAQ first promised to build a highway for cars connecting the two cities during its 2018 election campaign, which it won. In fact, it promised to begin construction in its first mandate. Then, in 2023, Guilbault announced the third link would be reserved solely for public transportation in a significant about-face that was difficult for some of the CAQ’s own MNAs to digest.
Six months later, Premier François Legault promised to consult citizens on the third link, suggesting that the project could possibly be revived.
In June, he announced the CAQ would be moving forward with a third link project for cars.
Beginning in sight?
Quebec Solidaire infrastructure and transport critic Étienne Grandmont sees Guilbault’s announcement as an election ploy.
“Maurice Duplessis said that with a bridge, you win three elections: with the announcement, the first shovelful of dirt and the ribbon cutting,” said Grandmont, referring to the former Quebec premier. “Now, the CAQ has sophisticated that concept: three elections with not a single shovelful of dirt.”
He says the project will only become irreversible once it’s completed.
“If Quebec Solidaire is elected in 2026, it will put a stop to the third link,” he said. “There will be penalties to pay and it will be the fault of the Coalition Avenir Québec.“
Parti Québécois infrastructure critic Pascal Paradis said Guilbault and the CAQ more broadly lack credibility when it comes to the third link.
“It’s a waste of money,” he said. “Sixty million dollars have already been wasted on the previous studies concluding that the third link is not feasible.”