MONTREAL – Motorists may be waiting until 2019 for the rebuild of the Turcot Interchange, one of the busiest exchanges in the province, to be completed – a full year later than originally scheduled.
Infrastructure Quebec is already five months late in naming the three consortium finalists who are trying to win the contract to rebuild the structure.
The three consortiums were supposed to have been named by the end of last summer but now an Infrastructure Quebec spokesperson says the names won’t be announced until the end of winter – pushing the date back to mid-March.
Analysts say bidding delays could lead to construction delays and skyrocketing costs.
Karla Duval of Infrastructure Quebec said the delays in naming the three finalists are due to the numerous pages of documents the agency has to go through. She insisted the delays won’t push back the construction schedule of rebuilding the Turcot, which was originally supposed to have been finished by 2018.
The former board president of the Public Private Partnership Agency disagrees. Claude Garcia told Global News that a delay in the bidding means a delay in rebuilding the mega-structure.
‘’I find it difficult to believe you can actually regain that time,’’ Garcia said.
Garcia thinks the delays have to do with Bill 1 – the Quebec law that requires potential contractors to get approval from Quebec’s financial services regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) in an attempt to curb corruption in the construction industry.
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