The recurrence of collisions at an exit from the Dufferin-Montmorency highway in Quebec City indirectly revives the debate on the third link. Québec solidaire attributes the government’s refusal to close this intersection in part to its desire to prepare the ground for the Québec-Lévis tunnel.
“The Minister of Transport is keen on the highway, she wants to keep it there. Is it to evacuate the tens of thousands of cars that will be added there by a possible third link? If this is the case, it is really serious, ”launched the united deputy Sol Zanetti during a press briefing at the National Assembly, Wednesday morning.
The elected officials were accompanied by David Rioux and Coraline Toupin, a young couple who miraculously emerged almost unscathed from an accident at the François-de-Laval motorway exit, in the Beauport sector.
In 2021, a woman, her father and her two children perished in the same place. A coroner’s report then recommended that the exit be redecorated.
The latter is located on the left lane of the highway, after a bend, in a 70 km/h zone. “I mentioned to my spouse, when we were at the intersection, that I found it dangerous. […] A few seconds later, the accident happened,” said Mr.me Toupin in front of the journalists. Originally from eastern Quebec, the couple took the exit for the first time.
Québec solidaire, which has been campaigning for years for the transformation of this portion of the highway into an urban boulevard, sees in this story one more argument in favor of its proposal. And indirectly, against the third link.
A radar photo
Initially, the left-wing party is calling for the exit to be closed and, in the longer term, the conversion of this portion of the highway into an urban boulevard.
Minister Geneviève Guilbault is banking on the photo radar recently installed at this location. During Wednesday’s question period, she reported that speeding has dropped by a third since the device was installed on February 3. “The further we go, the more it will affect the behavior of drivers,” she said.
Earlier, Mr. Rioux and Mme Toupin said that the day after their accident, they were “shocked” to learn that the minister was relying on photo radar to secure the area. This is what prompted them to write to the deputies of Québec solidaire to complain about it, they mentioned.
“In fact, when you look at the accident rate at that intersection, it is considered low,” also defended Minister Guilbault.
The scenario of a closure of the exit, she continued, is not excluded in the longer term. However, it would force thousands of motorists to take two other exits every day towards areas where schools and daycare centers are located, she argues. “At a time when we are all concerned with road safety, especially around schools, I think it is healthy to take this reality into account. »