Students protest third bridge or tunnel linking Quebec City to Lvis

A coalition of CEGEP student associationsin the Quebec City region isasking the Coalition Avenir Quebec government to study the environmental impact of a third infrastructure project crossing the St. Lawrence River.

Hundreds of students and citizens gathered indowntown Quebec Cityon Saturday to voice their opposition to what is being called the "third link" between the capital and Lvis, on the south shore.

During the election campaign, Franois Legaultpromised the project would break ground within his first mandate. The CAQ ended up winning eight of the region's 11 ridings.

Despite those results and a widespread support for the project among a segment of the population, Nomie Veilleux, one of the organizers of the march, said"it's not too late to get informed."

"There's still time to withdraw and find other ways to solve the traffic problems," said Veilleux,

She said thatcitizens should seek out information about the real impact that putting down new road infrastructure would have on traffic, and on greenhouse gas emissions.

March co-organizermileGendreau-Ctsaid that building new roads to reducetraffic was an archaic visionof urban planning.

"We've seen it since the1960s we add roads and roads and there's still traffic," he said.

Hehopes more and more people will turn to public transit and consider the benefits of the $3-billion tramway networkexpected to be running by 2026.

"It's an alternative we have to embrace in the present context where climate change is becoming more and more urgent," saidGendreau-Ct.

CAQfocuses on the east

The voices of those in favour of the project have been amplified under the new Transport Minister Franois Bonnardel, who has set his eyes on building a third link east of the downtown core.

Last weekBonnardelannounced that a full-time staffer would be tasked with reviewing the potential routes, and managing the$20.5 million the Liberals had promised to set aside intheir last budget.

The CAQnow wants the blueprints to include a plan to refurbish the le-d'Orlans bridge.

Thelast feasibility study ordered by the government in 2016 estimated that a 7.8-kilometretunnel running just west of the tip of theisland would cost $4 billion.

Quebec City Mayor Rgis Labeaume who has never fully supportedthe third link project seems to have resigned himself to the idea, stating on Nov. 1 that "Legault was elected because of that."

"I can't really see myself fighting for[a link to the west] now," Labeaumesaid.

The march came in the midst of a string of ralliesacross Quebec on Saturday asking the CAQ to put in place policies respectingthe environment.

"When he was first elected,Franois Legault said the environment was a priority for him, this is his chance to prove it," said Veilleux.

People gathered to voice that sentiment in Montreal, Trois-Riviresand a dozen other municipalities across Quebec this weekend.

Earlier this week, 500prominent Quebecers including artists, businesspeople andresearchers signed their names to a document to pledge action on climate change, calledLe Pacte pour la Transition,outlininga number of measures they commit to making as individuals to reduce carbon emissions.

With files from Radio-Canada's Fanny Samson.