I wanted to share with you an open letter I wrote to our Provincial Minister of Transport kindly asking the provincial government to consider reprioritizing their ten-year infrastructure plan that currently has the new Île aux Tourtes bridge scheduled for 2027. In the end, it’s their decision, but for the sake of our mental, physician and economic well-being, I wanted to add my voice and explain why we simply cannot wait that long.
Dear Minister Bonnardel,
Last Thursday, May 20th, 2021, the Ile-aux-Tourtes bridge was closed suddenly and indefinitely as the safety of users was at stake. As an infrastructure that accommodates tens of thousands of motorists and truckers on a daily basis, this emergency measure had a profound impact on my community of Vaudreuil-Soulanges.
I want to begin by highlighting that I fully understand, respect, and appreciate that this bridge is owned and managed by the Government of Quebec. This letter in no way seeks to intrude on that. I am writing as a fellow elected official and someone who cares deeply about the welfare of the parents, seniors, students, and small businesses that make up my community of Vaudreuil-Soulanges. I write on their behalf to express their unprecedented anger and frustration for a crisis that was entirely avoidable. I use the word crisis purposefully. This closure has caused untold mental stress. Physical altercations have occurred between overwhelmed motorists. Students have missed exams. Schools have closed, leaving both teachers and parents to scramble. Families must find ways to pay for the extra gas needed for the additional hours in traffic, and many of our local businesses- already struggling due to the pandemic-have been crippled by this additional blow. Our closest hospital is no longer accessible, causing delays for those with urgent medical needs to receive the care they need. The economic impact for our region at large and the province has yet to be calculated but will be significant.
I understand that this is a longstanding issue. It predates your government, and I do not seek to lay blame nor attack your work. I want to thank you on behalf of my community of Vaudreuil-Soulanges for putting in place mitigation measures to reduce the impact this closure is having on our physical and mental health and livelihoods. Instead, I am writing to invite you to look past this immediate crisis and to see the one on the horizon. The bridge needs to be replaced, and from the perspective of my community of Vaudreuil-Soulanges, the current timeline put forward by your Government of 2027 is simply unacceptable. It is unacceptable from a public safety and security standpoint and an economic one. Every winter sees more severe accidents on this bridge. On any given week, members of our community do not know if they need to account for one hour in traffic or three due to lane closures and new configurations. If you are a student, a parent, a worker, or a small business owner, this significantly impacts your life. Local freight companies and freight companies province-wide cannot continue to experience these delays and closures.
Minister, this bridge needs to be recognized and prioritized in a way that reflects the size and importance it represents and deserves. Eighty-seven thousand buses, trucks and cars cross it daily. This number is only projected to grow in the months and years ahead as our population continues to grow and as the long-awaited hospital is built in 2026, bringing with it the thousands of projected workers that will fill its halls. This will add significant additional strain on a bridge that is on its last legs. Further delays are no longer acceptable to those that call my community of Vaudreuil-Soulanges home.
Our frustration is compounded by announcements of other provincial infrastructure projects that have been recently announced, including the building of a tunnel known as “le troisième lien” linking Lévis to Quebec with a projected cost of billions of dollars. This reinforces the fact that the province has the funding to replace the Ile-aux-Tourtes bridge but has given it less importance. I hope this closure and the crisis that has ensued results in a review of the Government of Quebec’s 10-year infrastructure plan and that the replacement of the Ile-aux-Tourtes bridge is moved, by law, to a finalization date of no later than 2025. This can be among the lasting positive legacies you leave. On behalf of the 120,000 members of my community of Vaudreuil-Soulanges, I implore you to seize the opportunity for the betterment of our community and all communities in our province of Quebec who benefit from it.
Peter Schiefke
MP Vaudreuil-Soulanges
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship