CAQ doesn't intend to give up 3rd link for Quebec City, despite local grumbling

Quebec's premier-designate willfind a few people standing in the way of his plans to begin construction of a third link across the St. Lawrence River in Quebec City, with the election of two QubecSolidairecandidatesin the region.

"We are going to respect our commitments," Franois Legaultsaid duringhis first official mediaconference in his new roleTuesday, renewing a vow tobegin construction of a third bridge or a tunnel between Quebec City and Lvis inhis first mandate.

The left-leaning Qubec Solidairecampaigned on a platform of expandingpublic transit, denouncing Coalition AvenirQubec'splan for a third link.

Theelection ofCatherineDorioninTaschereauand SolZanettiinJean-Lesage was welcomed by Quebec City Mayor RgisLabeaume, who has also responded tepidly to the proposal.

"There's one thing we agree on, and that's public transportation. This means we agree on what is most important,"he said.

Labeaumereceived a text message from QS co-spokespersonManonMassTuesday, saying the party was sending in "deuxGauloissolidaires" two strong-minded opponents to theblue wave that rolled acrossthe region.

"I told her 'Under the circumstances, thank you very much,'"Labeaumesaid.

$3B tramway still a go

The CAQhas made commitments to improve public transit in the region, promising to push forward with a new$3-billion tramway networkforQuebec City a project which already had the previous Liberal government's stamp of approval, along with $215 million to draft the final blueprints.

But that proposed network doesn't include a connection to Lvis, for now.

The CAQ also wants to widen and extend highways in Montreal and Quebec City, as part of its overall infrastructure plan.

"In the rural sector, it's not realistic to think we'll have public transportation," saidLegault.

South shore enthusiastic about CAQ plan

Support for the third link is greater on Quebec City's south shore, where the CAQelected MNAs in all six ridings, including in Lvis, the Beauceand Bellechasse.

LvisMayor Gilles Lehouillier was quick to celebrate the election of a CAQgovernment.

On Tuesday, hesaid the Liberals were in power for four years "and couldn't be bothered to present a plan during the campaign that made any sense."

"I think people in Quebec City and Lvisunderstood that the only partythat had the determination to build a third link between the two shores was the CAQ," said Lehouillier, adding he is "convinced" the project will finally proceed.

Drop in traffic

Despite Lehouillier and the CAQ's enthusiasm for the third-link proposal, data showstraffic between Quebec City and the south shore has not increased in recent years.

In fact, it's gone down.

Ministry of Transport statistics from 2017 showed that the number ofcars crossing overfrom Lvis every morning fell between 2011 and 2015, going down four per cent on the QubecBridge and oneper cent on the Pierre-LaporteBridge.

Urban planning experts have also warned against adding new lanes to the road network, predicting it would only contribute to urban sprawl and flood the existing road network with more cars.

In the last provincial budget, the Liberals confirmedfunding of $20.5 millionto properly document traffic numbers and patterns, the impact of congestion on commuters and truckers, as well as all the possible solutions.