In recent days, the mayor of Lévis, Gilles Lehouillier, has criticized the CAQ, which is not moving quickly enough for him on the third link issue. Along the way, in his ardent defense of the inter-river link, he stated several half-truths. The Journal dissected the speech of the Lévisian politician and raised these inaccuracies.
Congestion
The statement:
“Despite everything, this transfer that we are going to make [avec le tramway]which is still interesting, will not be enough. Because at the same time, I have 115,000 vehicles crossing the bridges.”
The facts:
Mayor Lehouillier suggests that the third link will help solve the problem of road congestion in the region. The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Infra (CDPQ Infra), which studied five potential corridors for an inter-river link and rejected them all, predicts on the contrary that a new bridge or tunnel would cause a “significant increase in congestion on the road network in the territory of the city of Quebec. In addition, it is anticipated that the reduction in the number of vehicles on the bridges “would be less than 15%”, and that current users of the bridges would save on average only five minutes. CDPQ Infra emphasizes that less than 10% of trips in the region are inter-city, while internal trips in Lévis “are almost twice as important”. In this sense, we should rather “enhance the east-west service offer” in public transport, identifies the report.
The contribution of public transport
The statement:
“We will not be able to solve the interconnection problem between the two shores only with public transport.”
The facts:
The truth is that no serious plan to improve regional public transportation in the National Capital has been implemented in recent decades. CDPQ Infra, mandated by the Legault government, made a proposal, the CITÉ Plan, which recommends an overall long-term vision for Quebec and Lévis, with a tram, rapid buses, reserved lanes, a tunnel reserved for public transport . Its implementation “will considerably improve the reliability of travel times compared to the car and public transport. These time savings will generate growth in public transport ridership of a minimum of 40,000 people per day and the removal of a minimum of 30,000 cars per day,” estimate the experts at CDPQ Infra, who also do not advocate a third link.
Increased traffic on bridges
The statement:
“For me, the real reference will be the origin-destination survey which is coming, which in my opinion should confirm that the automobile is even stronger between the two shores.”
The facts:
The mayor is convinced that the next data from the origin-destination survey, which analyzes travel in the region and will be revealed in 2025, will show that more people use the bridges by car every day. However, this is not what analyzes from the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility (MTMD) predict. “The traffic and population growth forecast models made available by the MTMD show little growth in inter-river road flows compared to the situation currently observed,” cites the CDPQ Infra report.
CDPQ Infra studies
The declarations:
“CDPQI, I have no confidence in their statistics. For me, the real reference will be the origin-destination investigation which is coming.”
“CDPQI, in my opinion, […] and that’s what they told me when I met them, hasn’t done very in-depth studies on a highway link between the two banks.”
The facts:
To develop its CITÉ Plan proposal, CDPQ Infra consulted more than 1,000 documents. Specifically to arrive at its conclusions of not recommending a third link, it was based on “engineering and feasibility studies relating to a 3e interrival link which includes the analysis of needs, solutions and recommendations carried out by the MTMD and its Tunnel-Québec-Lévis Project Office (TQL)”. Among them, the 2017 origin-destination survey, demographic projections provided by the City of Lévis itself, as well as “the road simulation model used for the Quebec City region, MOTRAQ11, which was developed by the Transport Systems Modeling Directorate of the MTMD,” cites the Plan CITÉ report.
The CAQ and the tram
The statement:
“The CAQ was elected to create a third highway link. They were not elected for a tramway. He wasn’t on the platform. The only thing they said was: “The project being in place, we will continue it.”
The facts:
In the CAQ’s 2022 platform for the Quebec metropolitan region, it is written: “As promised, the Coalition Avenir Québec de la Capitale-Nationale team has unveiled the most ambitious mobility vision in its history, the Capital Express Network (REC). This includes various transport projects, including a direct tunnel between Quebec and Lévis, a tram line from Cap-Rouge to D’Estimauville, reserved lanes on Guillaume-Couture Boulevard in Lévis as well as an improvement in service. suburbs in terms of public transport by widening regional highways and adding lanes reserved for public transport.
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