Quebec paving association calls for investment in roads

With just a few months to go before the next 2024 provincial budget in March, Bitume Québec, an association of asphalt producers, has called on the Quebec government to invest in road infrastructure.

Bitume Québec president Tytus Zurawski said it is more important than ever for government authorities to show foresight and, in the process, invest more to halt the wear and premature deterioration of roads whose health index is still under downward pressure.

The association highlighted a recent Report of the Auditor General of Quebec (VGQ) which found that half of the province’s main roads are in poor condition. Despite substantial sums devoted to pavement conservation, “these investments are less than the increase in the deterioration of road conditions,” the VGQ report said.

Bitume Québec suggested the situation could become even more dramatic if the current level of investment remains unchanged. The road network’s maintenance deficit will increase significantly, and future generations risk having to bear the cost of interventions to maintain the province’s roads.

The pavement asset maintenance deficit (AMD) has risen from $7 billion to $10 billion between 2018 to 2022. Over 8,000 kilometres of pavement have reached the end of service life, which has increased by 8.9 percent, out of a total of 31,000 km for the entire network.

The VGQ report said the ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable (MTMD) must innovate “with the aim of improving the durability and quality of interventions, thereby extending the service life of pavements and promoting the sustainability of the road network”.

“Every dollar invested in rehabilitation avoids an average of between $13 and $15 in direct damage resulting from accidents and in indirect damage to the economy,” Zurawski said.

Because much of the rehabilitation work is not being carried out or is not part of a long-term plan a five-year intervention planning strategy and two-year programming plan needs to be developed, he added. The association believes Quebec has an obligation to maintain the relative health of the Quebec road network by introducing the concept of recurring investments in preventive maintenance, as is done in Ontario and several states in the American Northeast. Under the Plan Québécois des Infrastructures (PQI) 2023-2033, investments of $31.5 billion are planned, including $24.4 billion for road network maintenance alone.

“We’ll have to see, despite the efforts made, how the road sector will be provided with sufficient budgets to overcome the asset maintenance deficit before we declare victory too quickly,” Zurawski concluded by saying he hopes the Legault government would realize that the road network is the backbone of Quebec’s economy and regional growth.