Third link: experts remain skeptical

Archival Photo Daniel Mallard

Stephanie Martin and
Jean-Luc Lavallée

Wednesday, 6 December 2017 00:00

UPDATE
Wednesday, 6 December 2017 00:00

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Many experts continue to doubt the effectiveness of the third link to reduce congestion and see in the decision of the government a strategy for electioneering.

• READ ALSO: The third link officially to the study in January
• READ ALSO: Third link: “the public has a right to the truth,” said Labeaume
• READ ALSO: Study on the third link: a waste of public funds, say the greens
• READ ALSO: Third link: Labeaume “slows down the process,” accuses Gosselin

Asked to comment on the launch of the opportunity study for the proposed new link road between Quebec city and Lévis, experts in urban planning, land use, transport and economy have sighed in chorus.

“What distresses me, it is the amount of money that will be invested,” says Marie-Hélène Vandersmissen, director of the department of geography at the Université Laval. The researcher reiterated that the third link will only accelerate urban sprawl and will not reduce congestion very temporarily. She is pleased that the study can be used to “put the dots on the i’s”. “I just hope that the study will be conducted. (…) The political context makes it so that there are plenty of things that happen and that are not based on proven facts”.

A “game policy”

For economist Jean Dubé, who teaches at the graduate School of spatial planning and regional development from Université Laval, the commitment of liberals to a third link seems more motivated by a political calculation than by a real need.

“There is a dimension there that is not negligible, it’s called game politics and game politics, there are no economic rules that take place, there are no environmental rules that hold, there are votes only,” he confided in an interview, visibly disappointed that the politicians are ignoring the scientific consensus on the adverse impacts of urban sprawl.

“It returns to the importance it can have in these debates, that is to say not much. It always depends on what is the will ; If the goal is to decrease the congestion, it’s been a long time that it is said that it will not work”, he reiterated.

More to Lévis

Owen Waygood, who teaches at the same school, echoed the questions of the mayor Régis Labeaume. It demands to be convinced also of the “net gain” for the City of Quebec. “It is sure that this is an advantage for Levis, but the benefit to the City of Québec is less clear. There will probably be more traffic and congestion to Quebec.”

It also stresses the importance of grafting a system of public transportation “effective” for a possible third link if he were to see the light of day.

Serge Viau, architect and urban planner, emeritus and former director general of Quebec City, is “not convinced” that the third link is the solution to the congestion. He considers it normal that the study of the opportunity to take so much time to achieve because we must explore all aspects of the folder and not only the engineering and automobile traffic. “I think it’s important that we stop the public discussion for the time being. We let the experts work quietly for some time.”

Opportunity study of the third link

• Launched on December 4, 2017
• Expected results at the end of 2020

Budget of the project office :$20.5 M