New Champlain Bridge to cost $4.23B

Federal Infrastructure Minister DenisLebelannounced Friday afternoon that the newChamplainBridge will cost $4.23 billion.

The span linking the island of Montreal to the South Shore is expected to open in December 2018.

Engineering giantSNC-Lavalinhas the contract to build the bridge.

In April, the federal government announced that the bridge project was forecast to cost between $3 billion and $5 billion.

• New Champlain Bridge to be built by SNC-Lavalin consortium
• New Champlain Bridge will be built by 2018, Lebel says

The project will have many components:

• a new ChamplainBridge
• a new span for Nuns' Island
• expanding Highway 15 in Montreal from four lanes to six lanes

Lebel said any headaches caused by the construction will be worth it.

"We're already working with Mobility Montreal and we know that there will be an impact on the population but the biggest impact would have been if we didn't have a new bridge."

Mobility Montreal, the provincial roadwork committee, was tasked with coming up with various measures to alleviate traffic.

"We are going to make sure to well-prepare citizens...sometimes to use some other way," said Quebec Transport Minister Robert Poeti.

The entire project, including the new spans and highway expansion,is expected to be completed by 2019.