This highway tunnel linking Quebec to Lévis that the government plans to build between 2022 and 2031 will increase traffic congestion, as in Houston with the Katy Freeway – a 30 to 50% increase in travel times, bets the one who presented in May a speech on the scientific foundations of the integration of transport and territory planning, as part of the climate and governance conference from ACFAS: “this new route will induce more traffic, in addition to being against the climate policy put in place by the government”.
Adapting to the climate poses challenges of governance and multidisciplinary collaborations which must be close to the field, as demonstrated by the discussions at this conference. Because in addition to the fight against greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it is also important to quickly adopt unifying and effective policies in terms of adaptation to climate reality.
“For the moment, the effort is more put into mitigation, but we must tackle the other side of the coin, that of adaptation, too often dismissed by decision-makers and which is not sufficiently supported. financially, ”says Annie Chaloux, professor at the School of Applied Politics at the University of Sherbrooke. She was co-organizer of the recent conference at ACFAS.
“The pandemic has given us a taste of the changes to be implemented. We have to adapt in line with science and with local and territorial particularities ”, continues the one who is also director of the Climatoscope, popular science journal on the issue. Municipalities, provinces and Ottawa are all concerned by the climate emergency and must act in concert, when we are already seeing the consequences on ecosystems, northern communities, eroding coastal areas, roads flooded, urban heat islands, and even farmland.
Review our ways of transporting ourselves
The announcement of 3e lien was born out of the project launched in 2012 to review the “spaghetti” of accesses to the two bridges in Quebec. From the Liberal government’s proposal in 2014 to choose the winning link between five scenarios (two in the east, two in the west and one in the center), the central option was chosen, but it announces problems of congestion, urban sprawl and an increase in trucking. “We will see 55,000 new cars circulating between Quebec and Lévis. Without an opportunity study, it is a blatant case of poor management and planning, ”further criticizes Fanny Tremblay-Racicot.
A more adequate approach would rather pass, believes the expert, by what is called the RTA approach – Demand reduction, Modal shift and Improvement. In other words, we must instead promote teleworking or hybrid work (home / office), review urban design to give a better place to all modes of transport, a tax on gasoline, a reduction in prices for buses, better energy efficiency, etc.
On the other hand, the electrification of transport “must be the last strategy to be promoted in this approach,” she said. Above all, we must not increase road capacity. This is the prisoner’s dilemma (or Braess’s Paradox): users will make transport decisions to maximize their interests at the expense of others and the community ”.
By studying the sustainable planning of North American transport, particularly those of Toronto and Chicago, Fanny Tremblay-Racicot instead puts forward development strategies oriented towards public transport (TOD:Transit-oriented developpement). For example, the development of residential and commercial areas to promote bus or metro traffic, as well as carpooling, which is what we find with GoPlan in Toronto. “This type of transport must be efficient, affordable and combined with social housing, which requires vigilance and political will,” agrees the expert.
This is the objective of the establishment of friendly streets (“Complete streets”), as we have seen in Montreal and Quebec, focused on public transport, bike paths, pedestrians, in addition to the implementation of traffic calming measures (advances in sidewalks) and planting of plants.
Boost public policies
How can we ensure that policies for adapting to climate change are implemented more effectively? Better consultation with the population would already be a good starting point, notes researcher Nathalie Beaulieu. With her colleague Pierre Valois, from the Quebec Observatory for Climate Change Adaptation at Laval University, and international colleagues, she presented six case studies.
For example, in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, a footpath and bicycle path integrated into the Living Shoreline project garnered popular support. “It has become a flagship project for the municipality, which is now seeking funding to implement it,” notes the expert.
Likewise, with their “Resilient Boston Harbor,” Boston and surrounding cities are planning a constellation of beaches and elevated coastal parks to support the Harbor Walk and combine city protection and recreation. “They provide cycle paths and pedestrian paths for the most disadvantaged neighborhoods. All of this will be raised using a different approach from that implemented in Quebec, where naturalization of the coasts is preferred to fight against erosion, ”explains the expert.
The researchers also observe that the public adaptation projects to which the population is more favorable combine both a reduction in risks and an improvement in the quality of life of citizens, through greening, parks or the conservation of natural environments.
In other words, rather than focusing only on climate risks, we must put forward the gains for the quality of life of residents. “The pandemic allowed us to see who were the most vulnerable people and how we could draw inspiration from climate adaptation projects to have more pronounced impacts in underprivileged areas,” continues Ms. Beaulieu.
The health crisis has indeed reminded politicians of the importance of betting on the diversity of urban neighborhoods, the importance of local parks and the need to support a social housing policy so that large families, and those less economically advantaged, can stay in town.
Putting political collaboration forward
To achieve this, we still need consultation at the political level: “This can be done within a planning agency or by merging that agency with the transport unit, like Toronto and Chicago. It takes multidisciplinary teams, ”explains Fanny Tremblay-Racicot,
And also work in collaboration with local actors, the first witnesses of regional realities. “These actors are aware of their needs, not necessarily the scientists. We will therefore have to build a bridge between research and the individuals who live with this new reality, ”notes Professor Chaloux.
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