On the third link, we all dance in a circle

This time it’s it, the PM swore.

The refrain? “On the Avignon Bridge, we dance there, we dance there. On the Pont d’Avignon, we all dance in a circle.” And then this, “Handsome gentlemen do it like that, and then again like that.”

We turn from one side to the other.

It took me a while, you might say, but I went digging in the archives to find the waltz-hesitations (as far as musical allusions are concerned) surrounding this project. Hey, I learned in a report from L’Actualité that it was already in the works 60 years ago, as evidenced by The sun on May 29, 1954, when the “official signing of the contract for the future Quebec-Lévis tunnel” for 30 million, completed in two and a half years, was announced.

Well, 60 years later, almost to the day, we don’t yet see the day when a contract will be signed, but we know that we would have gotten a hell of a good deal at that price.

We also know that this project has more lives than a cat, that as soon as it dies it is reborn in another form. And this is what I found fascinating in my research, far from being exhaustive obviously, is the diversity of arguments used over the years to convince of the necessity of this famous third link.

I did the exercise of noting quotes from those who announced and defended the project, especially on the reasons given. Each new project has its new arguments, those of the previous one being immediately null and void, like this essential “10 minutes from city center to city center” from Gilles Lehouillier, mayor of Lévis, to praise the late tunnel.

Do you remember?

Public transportation

“A link that reaches the city center, which includes a public transport component and which can be added to the tramway project, I find that really promising.”

– François Legault, February 5, 2020

“There will be a reserved lane, a more important place for public transport.”
— François Bonnardel, February 6, 2020

“Just remember that in the third link project, there is a tunnel between downtown Lévis and downtown Quebec. It’s very important for public transportation.”

– François Legault, April 30, 2022

“When we build consensus around projects, we have to stop always wanting to start from scratch. At some point, there is a good project on the table, I think that if the government dropped the project in the east, it is because it saw an advantage in deploying the city center to center network. city, particularly in terms of public transportation.”

– Gilles Lehouillier, September 1, 2021

“The idea of a third link to the east had been looked at by the CAQ, it was not a bridge, but rather a tunnel. As for us, all these files have been looked at […]the government is in action mode with the tunnel currently.”

– Gilles Lehouillier, September 1, 2021

“We support the project for a fundamental element, the tunnel, being city center to city center, added a spectacular element […] public transport, connecting the two city centers in 10 minutes.”

– Gilles Lehouillier, Radio-Canada, September 17, 2022

The environment

“Because currently there are two bridges where people are forced to take a big detour, which is not ideal for the environment. During peak hours, there will be two out of four lanes, so half of the lanes, which will be for public transport.

– François Legault, April 30, 2022

Traffic

“We will come back to you when we have found together the way to move forward, but I want to say it very clearly: “we are going to do this, we need to do it and, in the end, we know that There will be a bill at the end of that, everyone is aware of that.”

– Philippe Couillard, September 29, 2016

“We will try to choose the scenario, after having studied it, which has the best cost-benefit ratio. For the moment, there is just one analysis that has been done on one tunnel. We need to study the different scenarios, but that requires a third link for motorists.”

François Legault, March 28, 2017

“Really painful crossing the bridges in Quebec at 2 p.m. this afternoon. Looking forward to a 3rd link to the east!”
— François Legault on Twitter, August 30, 2018

“We don’t need to do a lot of study. Go and stand at the entrance to the bridges in the morning, you will see, and the same thing at the end of the afternoon. There is a need, we need a third link currently.”

– François Legault, May 4, 2018

“The waiting we experience does not need to be studied. You just need to be in your tank, in traffic, and the damn wait is getting longer and longer.”

– Bernard Drainville, September 2, 2022

The economy

“Without this economic development, we deprive ourselves of tools,” he declared. Those who want to prevent any form of development, whether through the third link or through other companies, are literally depriving us of means.”

– Benoit Charrette, Minister of the Environment, September 26, 2019

“If we do not take concrete actions to strengthen the greater region of the capital and Chaudière-Appalaches […] its demographic weight in the whole of Quebec will decrease.”
— Gilles Lehouillier, January 22, 2020

“You leave from Guillaume-Couture, close to Desjardins, you want to see a show at the Grand Théâtre: ten minutes and you are at your destination. It’s an incredible change. If you go there with our buses, it’s 50 to 55 minutes minimum. Imagine the impact this will have on the development of our city.”

– Gilles Lehouillier, February 4, 2020

“I recently spoke to developers who told me: “Prepare to receive office buildings in Lévis,” because it is cheaper and the travel distance with the tunnel which will connect the two city centers will decrease by half, almost three-quarters.”

– Gilles Lehouillier, February 4, 2020

Because because

“There is no study that takes the tunnel project to four lanes, including two lanes for public transport, there is none, none. They are currently doing the studies, we are not starting from zero, it is progressing. We hope in the next year to be able to have all the results of the studies, we continue to move forward because we need a third link.

– François Legault, September 16, 2022

Quebec City has 2.44 bridges per million inhabitants, compared to 8.70 in Montreal.
— Ministry of Transport, April 2022

“We were tenacious. We stayed the course and now it’s within reach. No one will be able to take away the tunnel between the two banks from us again.”

Gilles Lehouillier, February 4, 2020

“I know that we are accused of doing this to solicit votes, but I would tell you that in my case, it has nothing to do with it.”

Éric Caire, January 26, 2018

Uselessness (after the removal of the motorway component)

“We do not have data that would justify the establishment of a motorway tunnel between the two city centers. […] But I don’t want us to have the impression that we are saying: “It’s too expensive for Quebec, that means we don’t do it anymore.” ” It’s not that. If there had been a need, if the figures had demonstrated the need, we would have done it.”

– Geneviève Guilbault, April 20, 2023

“It was not an easy decision, but one that we made in the interest of Quebecers. When the context changes, my responsibility is to adapt.”
— François Legault, September 9, 2023

And came economic security

“With two aging bridges to the west of the city, the third link is an insurance policy for the future.”

Bernard Drainville, August 20, 2022

“We placed a lot of emphasis on the traffic that would be on this new highway link. Taking a step back, we realize that the issue of economic security is very important. This is why we are changing our decision.”

François Legault, June 13, 2024

“For reasons of economic security, our government is committed to building a new highway link between Quebec and Lévis”
— François Legault, June 13, 2024

Any closure of the Pierre-Laporte Bridge “would be catastrophic and hellish for the economy of our two regions. […] We have no choice but to make the responsible decision, for once, finally, to plan in advance the redundancy of our inter-shore infrastructures.”

– Geneviève Guilbault, June 13, 2024

“The third link project is also important for economic security since there are 10,500 trucks passing over a bridge every day. If we lose this bridge, we will have to go through Trois-Rivières. Do you think that makes sense?”

Bernard Drainville, June 17, 2024

The final word

“Imagine if one day something happened”