Premier François Legault is moving forward with the third link project for vehicles despite a warning from CDPQ Infra that a another access point to Quebec City to from the South Shore wasn’t justified in terms of gains in mobility.
The subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) — Quebec’s pension fund manager — recommended several major transport solutions for the Quebec City region on Wednesday.
Among the proposed projects included rapid bus service and a 35-kilometre tramway network. The report also recommends structuring public transport between Quebec City and Lévis, Que., “via the existing bridges,” instead of adding a much-discussed third link for cars.
Reacting to the report in a press conference Thursday, Legault said he supports the $15.5 billion public transit project in the provincial capital region and thanked CDPQ Infra for its work over the past six months.
He said the government will help the Caisse realize the first phase of the tramway project but said a third link project between Quebec City and Lévis for cars and trucks is still needed.
Years of back and forth
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 Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault announced that the third link would be reserved for public transportation only and not be open to drivers.
Six months later, following the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ)’s defeat in the byelection in Quebec City’s riding of Jean-Talon, Legault promised to consult and listen to citizens on the third link, suggesting that the project could possibly be revived.
The government is defending the third link for cars and trucks as a need for economic security, saying the Pierre-Laporte Bridge can’t remain the only option for the transportation of commodities in the region.
“As premier, the question I have to ask with my colleagues is can we live with this economic risk?” said Legault.
“For economic security reasons, our government is engaged to plan and build a new road for cars between Quebec and Levis.”
Guilbault said Thursday that if the Pierre-Laporte Bridge ever had to close it would be “catastrophic” for the local economy.
“We cannot keep pushing back and back and back major infrastructure projects over years because we will find ourselves pressured in public security situations,” said Guilbault.
“We have no choice but to take the responsible decision.”
Legault says he has big ambitions for the region and that the third link for cars is necessary, in addition to the tramway.
Poilievre says he supports 3rd link for cars
On Thursday, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that as prime minister he wouldn’t invest a cent in the tramway project, saying Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government and the Bloc Québécois are “obsessed with a war on cars and are ignoring people in the suburbs and the regions.”
He says he will continue to respect Quebec motorists by supporting a third link for cars.
Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand fired back. He sees a tramway not as a war on cars, but rather as a way of reducing traffic.
He also accused Conservative leaders of taking the region “back 70 years” with such statements.
“Beautiful vision for the country. Right now, we’re going to work with those who are there. We’re going to work very quickly and very well,” said Marchand.