The 3rd link already goes to the next step

About ten days after the unveiling of the concept and costs of the third link between Quebec and Lewis, the project is already moving to the next stage, with the opening, Friday, of the call for tenders for the realization of a study. ‘Environmental impact.

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Our Parliamentary Office has learned that documents intended for companies interested in the contract will be published in the Government Electronic Tendering System (SEAO) in the next few hours.

According to our information, the goal is to begin the process of environmental assessment next fall, to submit the final report in 2023.

The analysis by the selected representative on the consequences of both the construction and subsequent construction of the Quebec-Lewis tunnel will be highlighted.

Topics studied include: sound environment, air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, wildlife, wetlands and water, as well as farmland.

Concerns

The study should therefore, in particular, respond to questions raised by Sustainable Development Commissioner Paul Lanoi.

At a press conference in the National Assembly during the tabling of his annual report, he expressed concern about the increase in GHG emissions associated with the opening of the Lanoy tunnel.

The Office of Public Hearing on the Environment (BAPE) should be in place by 2023 to take the nerve of experts and citizens before expressing their views on the project.

The Legal government wants to complete the business case for the tunnel project by 2025. Then we need to know the full range of contingency costs ranging from 10 to 35%, which is currently added to the estimated construction costs of between $ 6 billion and $ 7 billion. …

The schedule, unveiled last week, shows that the tunnel boring machine – the largest in the world, due to the estimated 19.4 m diameter of the monotube – will begin digging in 2027.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Franకోois Bonnardell has promised that “more than symbolic” preparatory work will begin by the fall of 2022.

Perceived effects

As the Quebec Center for Environmental Law (CQDE) demanded yesterday, it remains to be seen whether the Under River Tunnel project will comply with the federal environmental assessment.

Fearing “major environmental impacts”, the organization appealed directly to Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Jonathan Wilkinson.

– With Charles Lacavalier and Stephanie Martin

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