At $6.5B, a cheaper, more modest 3rd link coming to Quebec capital

The Legault government has unveiled a new, more modest vision of its "third link" tunnel that would connect Quebec City and to the city of Lévis, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River.

This new version has two smaller tunnels instead of a single larger one, no more lanes reserved for public transit, and an estimated price tag of $6.5 billion.

Quebec Transport Minister François Bonnardel announced the CAQ government's latest version of its pet project in Lévis on Thursday afternoon. 

Inflation and a shortage of labour throughout the construction industry have pushed the government to look at ways to reduce the estimated costs of the project, said Bonnardel. 

"The situation has changed from three years ago when we announced the first tunnel," he said.

Earlier estimates put the cost of the project at between $7 and $10 billion. This scaled-down version would reduce the price tag by 25 per cent, according to Bonnardel. The province is still expecting Ottawa to fund 40 per cent of the total cost.

In the province's original version, presented last year, there was only going to be one single tunnel, 19.4 metres wide, with two levels of three lanes each. The province had also planned for lanes specifically reserved for electric buses.

The new plan envisions two tunnels, each 12 to 15 metres wide, and four lanes in total instead of six. The province is also planning to install an intelligent traffic control system that can detect congestion.

The tunnel's location and main trajectory remain the same. 

Quebec City mayor still skeptical

It's not the first major revision the tunnel project has undergone.

Last October, in response to concerns from residents and municipal officials about downtown congestion, Bonnardel announced that the tunnel exit for cars and trucks would be the Laurentienne and Dufferin-Montmorency highways, instead of allowing traffic to spill into downtown.

Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand remains somewhat cautious about the latest design. 

"They're presenting us a vision," he said. "We will wait for facts. We will wait for what we need in order to understand and judge this project."

He said his concerns about the environmental impacts of the tunnel and fears it will contribute to urban sprawl remain, and he needs to be convinced otherwise.

"Let's prove it. I would like to believe it: let's prove it," he said.

The Transport Ministry is still evaluating the environmental impacts of the project. Quebec's environmental review board, known by its French acronym as the BAPE, will also be conducting a second, more thorough study.

Bonnardel vowed the government will do everything it can to protect the St. Lawrence River and minimize the project's environmental impacts.

"There's less environmental impact with a tunnel compared to a bridge," claimed Bonnardel. For example, he said, a tunnel doesn't require material to be dropped onto the river bed, and it doesn't disrupt the landscape the way a bridge does.

Lévis Mayor Gilles Lehoullier, who has supported the third link from the start, remains enthusiastic.

"I think it's an excellent project,'' he said Thursday. "I am convinced this project will find social acceptability."

Some preparatory work on the tunnel has already started and will continue through the summer.

The government expects to release its final plan in 2025, with a project completion date set for 2032 – one year later than originally planned.