Quote:
Originally Posted by eternallyme
About the 440E in Quebec City and development to the east, really I don't see what the planners were thinking there! Unless a bridge all the way across Ile d'Orleans is built (to the south shore) and that is VERY expensive, the development will definitely favour north and west due to better connections.
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Well, the planners really weren't all that crazy because their projections relied on the assumption that a bridge would indeed be built between Lévis and downtown Québec City, thus closing the highway loop around the city. The following map represents the scenario priviledged by engineers for the highway system back in 1968. The dotted line on the right was the chosen path of the said bridge. However, projections assumed that Quebec City's population would have reached 1 000 000 by 1990. Since population growth turned out to be much more modest than anticipated, the expansion of the highway system was scaled back, which in turn lead to the halt of the downtown bridge project.
The second picture is a future rendering (realized in 1968) of what the City was expected to look like in 1990. Interesting to note that the Charest highway, on the bottom right, was envisionned to be elevated in some parts while passing under buildings in further locations.
http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/2010/08/30/le-reseau-demesure-dautoroutes-inachevees-de-quebec/
Quote:
Originally Posted by eternallyme
What are the traffic counts on the Ile d'Orleans bridge? If fairly high, most likely it would need to be twinned at the same time if a south shore bridge was built.
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It's funny that you ask about that because there was an article in the newspaper about this very subject yesterday. Anyway, the population of the Ile d'Orleans is fairly limited: about 5800 inhabitants. Hence, the traffic counts on the bridge is limited as well since we are talking about 15 000 daily crossings. That being said, as I've recently posted in the Canadian Bridge section, the Ministère des Transports du Québec has announced that this bridge will have to be replaced within 10 years. Due to its old age (1935), it doesn't comply with seismic criteria anymore. Hence, there has been some debate as to whether or not use this opportunity to create a double bridge linking the south shore with both the Ile d'Orléans and the north shore.
This question is indeed worth debating in light of traffic statistics for both the Quebec bridge and Pierre Laporte bridge. About 35 000 vehicles of any kind cross the Old Lady every day while her younger sister witnesses 155 000 daily crossings. Traffic is thus already important in this area of the city yet these numbers keep increasing yearly because both Lévis and Sainte-Foy (neighbourhood next to the bridges) keep growing rapidly. Furthermore, it can be assumed that the Quebec bridge, opened in 1917, won't be able to accomodate traffic for many more decades. Daily crossings on the Laporte bridge would thus instantly increase to 200 000 and it would become the only link between the two shores east of Trois-Rivières.
Such a link would also greatly improve the accessibilty to the downtown area for anyone coming from the east because for the moment, visitors have to drive by the City on the south shore, take the bridge in Sainte-Foy and drive all the way back to downtown on the north shore. I believe the new Ile d'Orléans bridge will be built next to the old one. The location of another bridge linking the south shore to the island is just a guess:
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From the article...
I love this picture though: Quebec City has this image of a governement town although it has heavy industrial roots. The old port is now beautiful but as you can see here, railways were everywhere to be seen. The Delta hotel was also under construction.
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