Collective transport on Guillaume-Couture: The vagueness still reigns in Lévis

Five months after the unveiling of the report from the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Infra (CDPQI) on mobility in the Capitale-Nationale region, vagueness still reigns over the precise nature of the public transport that will run on Boulevard Guillaume -Couture, in Lévis.

Last June, a few days after the report was published, the confusion had already reached its peak. CDPQI insisted that its proposal for Lévis included “a real BRT (Rapid Bus Service)” and not just lanes reserved for buses. At the same time, the minister and deputy for Lévis, Bernard Drainville, persisted in saying “that an SRB, in fact, are reserved lanes”.

Friday morning, Minister Drainville and the mayor of Lévis, Gilles Lehouillier, participated in a press briefing in Lévis on social housing. They once again had to answer questions about mobility on Guillaume-Couture Boulevard where work to redevelop reserved lanes continues.

Continue the work

“There is work currently being carried out […] The position that I expressed when submitting the report was to continue the work that was started with the construction of the reserved lanes. We are already making very significant investments in reserved lanes,” replied Mr. Drainville.

“Our vision is to continue what is already under construction,” he said. We do not want to delay the excellent initiatives that have already been put forward to ensure that public transportation in Lévis is improved.”

“A mix of both”

For his part, Mayor Lehouillier first stated the following: “There is a report that was filed by the Caisse de dépôt. Above all, we must not arrive, as I saw in the media recently, then raise our hands and then say: “The rest of us, we need an SRB, then you know my friend at all costs”.”

“Everyone agrees that Guillaume-Couture is a backbone for public transportation,” he added. We are currently looking at what scenario we will submit to the government […] It will be a mix of both [SRB et voies réservées]. Let’s not get bogged down in semantics. At the appropriate time, we will determine the best passage route.”

Subject to a final agreement to be concluded by December 15, the Legault government has confirmed that it intends to complete the Quebec City tram portion (19 km) of the first phase of the CITÉ plan presented by CDPQI. On the other hand, the SRB lines of Quebec and Lévis, also included in this first phase of the plan, have still not been formally ratified.