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Feds, province provide Highway 85 funding

July 14, 2015 – The federal government has announced that it will provide $389,681,000 in federal funding for Phase 3 of the redevelopment of Highway 85, under the National Infrastructure Component of the New Building Canada Fund. The Government of Quebec’s contribution of $557,649,000 also reaffirms the project as priority under the 2015-2025 Québec Infrastructure Plan. Construction work on this segment of the highway will begin in 2017.

This project involves the last 40 kilometre section from Saint-Antonin to Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, which will benefit the entire province of Quebec, as Highway 85 is vital to the economic development of eastern Canada. Expanding the existing highway (route 185) to four lanes in this section will make Highway 85 safer and more efficient for those using it and facilitate the transport of goods between Quebec and the Maritime provinces.

The first two phases of the redevelopment project included converting a two-lane highway into a four-lane divided highway in an effort to improve safety. Phase 1 of the project, which was rolled out between 2002 and 2011, involved a number of specific sections of the road for a total of 21 kilometres. Phase 2, a distance of roughly 33 kilometres between Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac (Cabano section) and the New Brunswick border, is almost complete. The highway was rolled out gradually beginning in 2013 and continuing in 2014. The last 7.5 kilometres of this phase in Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac, in the Notre-Dame-du-Lac section, will be rolled out in fall 2015. At the end of Phase 3, the Highway 85 construction project will be complete.

Through the $4-billion National Infrastructure Component of the New Building Canada Fund, the Government of Canada is providing financial support for projects with far reaching benefits for all Canadians. The Fund supports infrastructure of national significance that has a strong impact on Canada’s competitiveness, productivity and economic well-being.