Canada/La rue de la Faune to be widened to improve mobility

In 2026, the City of Quebec will redevelop rue de la Faune to add two lanes of traffic. For the rare time since its election in 2021, Mayor Marchand's party is opting to increase road capacity in the northern ring road.

A traffic lane will be added in each direction, in addition to bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. This $22 million project will serve as the cornerstone for the development and planning of other projects, and will be phased over a two-year period, indicated the Marchand administration at the unveiling of its Action Plan to Improve Mobility in the North Shore.

The redevelopment will improve mobility between the Saint-Émile district and the Orsainville and Notre-Dame des Laurentides districts. Work is scheduled to start in 2026.

There's not much room to move around," commented Mayor Bruno Marchand on Thursday. It's going to be good for cars, good for buses, good for active mobility.

It's going to improve traffic flow. More people will pass through these areas, whatever means is chosen.

A quote from Bruno Marchand, Mayor of Quebec City

Part of this action plan to improve mobility in the northern ring had already been announced in September, following the imposition of a tax on vehicle registration. The plan also calls for the addition of metrobus routes and the construction of park-and-ride facilities in the area.

Twenty new boulevards

The plan also calls for $100 million to redevelop some twenty boulevards over the next 25 years to improve mobility. The city hopes to carry out two development projects each year.

Mayor Marchand points out that their redevelopment will not necessarily result in the addition of traffic lanes. You don't start out with one lane on each side [...] In certain sectors, the realities change," explains Bruno Marchand.

No war on the car

Mayor Marchand, who has often pleaded in favor of public transit, defends himself against critics who accuse him of waging war on the car just a few months before municipal elections.

It's waging war on congestion. It's about finding ways to improve traffic flow. In 2050, there will still be cars," replies Bruno Marchand. People who think we're doing that don't know us very well. The war on congestion means offering citizens, wherever they are in the city, the means of getting around [so that they] choose the one best suited to their needs.

Accusations of electioneering

Opposition leader Claude Villeneuve agrees with the announcement, but feels it comes too late. He points out that the Labeaume administration had launched a project to widen rue de la Faune in 2019.

Bruno Marchand arrived in 2021. What's happened since then? he asks. If it takes ten years to figure out that a road needs a new lane, maybe we're asking ourselves too many questions.

The leader of Québec d'abord accuses the mayor of focusing too much on active mobility during his mandate. We're six months away from elections, and all of a sudden, he wants to widen roads," he remarks, perceiving it as an electoral bonanza.

Jackie Smith, leader of Transition Québec and Limoilou councillor, also sees Bruno Marchand's announcement as a strategy to appeal to voters in Quebec City's northern ring. I think it's an example of electoral maneuvering to win over the suburbs," she says.

She criticizes the mayor for bowing to the car lobby in the face of criticism accusing him of waging a war on the car.

Source: ici.radio-canada.ca/