LÉVIS — The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec will present a project for a third fixed link between Quebec City and Lévis in June, Bernard Drainville said Monday.
The minister responsible for the Chaudière-Appalaches region made the remarks during a dinner conference organized by the local chamber of commerce.
“The commitment we have from the Caisse is that they will submit a project for an inter-shore link. That’s a given. They are going to submit a project for a link between the two shores,” he repeated.
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CDPQ Infra, the infrastructure arm of the Caisse, must officially look into ways to “improve mobility and fluidity in the Quebec Metropolitan Community, particularly between the two shores,” Drainville added.
However, nothing indicates the Caisse will recommend a highway project, he said. Last year, the government shelved a highway tunnel project and proposed one reserved solely for public transport.
“No, we don’t know that, obviously. We don’t know yet; we’ll see,” Drainville said. He added that he made “presentations” to CDPQ Infra, but did not pressure the branch.
The saga of the third Quebec City-Lévis road link has been going on for years.
Premier François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec promised to build one at all costs, then abandoned the idea, then revived it the day after its electoral defeat in the Jean-Talon riding in October.
Last fall, it transferred the file to CDPQ Infra, saying it had six months to find a solution.
On Monday, Drainville told Lévis businesspeople that he and Chutes-de-la-Chaudière MNA Martine Biron were “extremely disappointed” by the abandonment of the third highway link.
“Disappointed is a weak word,” Drainville said. “We never gave up. … We continued to work internally to tell our government: ‘It can’t be, it needs a new link.’”
The project was finally reactivated thanks to the work of MNAs from the Chaudière-Appalaches and Capitale-Nationale regions, Lévis Mayor Gilles Lehouillier said Monday afternoon.
“Things must be brewing a bit (within the CAQ),” he said. “I am convinced that what Mr. Drainville is saying today is the truth: The caucus continues to fight very hard to have this highway link.”
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