MONTREAL – Federal Infrastructure Minister, Denis Lebel, was adamant Wednesday that tolls will be installed on the structure replacing the Champlain Bridge in Montreal.
“Be sure it will not be $7, but it’s too early to give the exact price on the toll,” Lebel said.
The amount he cited is in reference to current toll fee of the A25 bridge linking Laval to Montreal.
READ MORE: While crack in bridge closes lane, debate still open over tolls on Champlain Bridge
He also outlined the details of the future bridge and a very ambitious construction schedule.
The new Champlain bridge is scheduled to be completed by 2018.
It will be funded by a private public partnership (PPP), where the private company will design, build, finance. operate and maintain the project over the long term.
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It wasn’t clear when the government would take control of the bridge: a new bridge is supposed to last for 100 years.
A call for public tenders will be launched in the spring of 2014.
A shortlist of qualified candidates will be confirmed by the summer and the winning bid is expected to be announced in the spring of 2015.
Construction is set to begin that summer.
The new bridge will be constructed just east of the existing Champlain Bridge, is slated to take three years to build and will be completed, according to this schedule, in 2018.
The total costs have not been confirmed, but are expected to be between $3 and $5 billion.
The concept and design have not been finalized, but Lebel said that he would like the new bridge to be a single-level span with three decks.
The first would be reserved for six lanes of traffic (three in each direction) and two lanes reserved for public transit (either reserved bus lanes or a light-rail train system). The final line would be reserved for cyclists and pedestrians.
Although the tolls remain an ongoing point of controversy, provincial and municipal officials seemed pleased with the announcement.
Both the Quebec government and Montreal mayor Denis Coderre have opposed putting tolls on a new bridge, out of fear it that this will create heavy traffic congestion on the other bridges leading to Montreal.
At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Coderre came out swinging against any proposed toll on a future bridge.
He said that if tolls were added to the Champlain Bridge, they must be added to all bridges in Montreal.
Coderre also said that he fears tolls could damage Montreal’s economy, but he is still hoping to reach an agreement with Ottawa.
He has a meeting with the Prime Minister on January 23 to discuss ongoing issues, including the Champlain Bridge, infrastructure funding and Canada Post cuts.
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