[EN IMAGES] Boulevard Laurier Sector: Major one-year prior works for the tramway

Major pre-work will be carried out in the Laurel Boulevard sector, in 2022 and 2023, for one year to allow for the harmonious insertion of the Quebec Tramway at the city’s western entrance.

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The municipality released a summary schedule of work before noon on Monday. While waiting for the “real” construction site to begin in the summer of 2023, the purpose of these pre-works is to move the underground pipes so that they are never under the tram tracks.

“The work will be long. It will take almost a year. If it starts in June, it means we will be finished by the end of the winter of 2023,” the manager of the Tramway project office explained during a virtual briefing.

Over the next few months, work will be concentrated on several streets perpendicular to the Laurier and Hochelaga boulevards in Sainte-Foy. We will try to start “small works” one after the other. The stated goal is to avoid “frustrated motorists” trying to avoid accidents. The idea is that motorists will get themselves stuck because of the construction site and do not experience the inconvenience of another construction site nearby too quickly.

Although automobile traffic will be maintained at all times, some lanes are expected to be closed as work progresses. Résau de Transport de la Capitale (RTC) buses will continue to be in circulation.

Of the 108 trees located in the area, 36 will be cut down (including 25 ash trees that will disappear anyway). The municipality reaffirmed its commitment to plant 20 trees for each tree cut down.

The compensation plan for traders in this sector should be developed by the municipality in 2023 because the criteria of the current scheme do not apply to them.

From mid-November to the end of December 2022, the city of Quebec says it has focused on limiting the scope of work so as not to interfere with the activities of shopping centers during the busiest holiday season.

Restructured cycle

Proper work for the construction of the tramway is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2023. It is scheduled to be commissioned by the end of the summer of 2028.

When the tramway is in operation, the number of automobile traffic lanes in each direction on the lorry boulevard will be three. The number of pedestrian crossings in the lorry will increase from eight to 12. In the pictures released on Monday, we promise a “green and vibrant boulevard” where various amenities are planned for pedestrians and cyclists.

Sainte-Foy Interchange will play a key role in capturing buses from Lewis, we stressed. Furthermore, we have confirmed that a “staging system” at the intersection of Boulevard Laurier and Route de l’Église will prevent the tramway from “interlocking” between cars and buses going over bridges.

Surprisingly, a major overhaul of the city’s entrance is expected. Boulevard Hochelaga will be called upon to play a key role in allowing motorists to enter the city over the next few years, as two lanes have been added.