Monday, CDPQ Infra contradicted Minister Bernard Drainville by reiterating that his report indeed proposes the establishment of “a real SRB (Rapid Bus Service)”, between Quebec and Lévis, which “is not limited to the ‘use of reserved lanes’.
Last week, as part of its CITÉ plan, CDPQ Infra notably suggested a 25 km SRB line, on Guillaume-Couture Boulevard, between the Desjardins pole (Lévis) and the Sainte-Foy pole (Quebec).
However, the Minister of Education and Member of Parliament for Lévis, Bernard Drainville, surprised many, Monday morning, at a press briefing, by arguing that “what the Caisse calls an SRB, in fact, are reserved lanes . If you look at the Caisse report, you will see that there is a kind of sketch and you will see buses passing on the right. There is no confusion.”
According to him, “when the Caisse submitted its project, we inquired with the Caisse and the answer that came back to us was that what they call SRB, in fact, are reserved lanes like those that the City of Lévis has already started to build with our financial support.”
“A real SRB”, says the Caisse
Informed of this exit, CDPQ Infra reacted, Monday noon, by way of declaration by affirming that “the SRB recommended by CDPQ Infra within the framework of the City Plan is not limited to the use of reserved lanes, but aims at the implementation of a real SRB. That is to say, an articulated bus system that circulates in a right-of-way physically separated from automobile traffic lanes and allows for faster and more efficient service.”
CDPQ Infra points out that “the SRB also benefits from a traffic light synchronization system which gives it priority and comfortable stations which make it possible to offer a better level of service to users. This type of system is recommended for the routes of Boulevard Guillaume-Couture and Route des Rivières, due to anticipated traffic.
The enthusiastic Lehouillier
Before this response from CDPQ Infra, the mayor of Lévis, Gilles Lehouillier, was very enthusiastic about Minister Drainville’s interpretation which mentioned reserved lanes.
“There, it gets really interesting. We are already working on 3 kilometers of reserved lanes (…) As soon as the government raises its hand to say that it is ready to continue the reserved lanes on Guillaume-Couture, we will be there. This is excellent news, the government’s desire to accelerate the arrival of reserved lanes along all of Guillaume-Couture Boulevard,” he said.
Last week, Mr. Lehouillier again expressed all the reservations that the idea of an SRB inspired in him. “Try to imagine the impact it will have if we decide to do an SRB. It’s as if the 140 million work we’re doing is being thrown in the trash,” he said. In 2017, Mr. Lehouillier had already withdrawn from the SRB project which was on the table.
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