Outaouais roads and bridges to see $195 million in repairs as Quebec tackles maintenance backlog

Tashi Farmilo

The provincial government is putting close to $195 million into the roads and bridges of the Outaouais region over the next three years, with most of the money going toward fixing what already exists rather than building anything new.

Local MNA Mathieu Lacombe delivered the news in Gatineau on April 10 on behalf of Quebec's transport minister Jonatan Julien.

For drivers in the area, some of the work will be visible soon. Plans for the next two years include rebuilding the on-ramp and reorganizing the interchange where Highway 50 meets the montée Paiement in Gatineau, an area that has long been a source of congestion and frustration. Workers will also be paving a stretch of Route 301 near Otter Lake and patching up the surface of Route 105 through several smaller communities including Maniwaki and Kazabazua.

Of the total investment, about $80 million is going toward road surfaces, $78 million toward bridges and overpasses, and $36 million toward safety improvements, some of which follow up on recommendations made by Quebec's coroner after fatal accidents on provincial roads.

Across Quebec, 77 cents of every dollar in this plan will be spent maintaining existing infrastructure rather than expanding it. That reflects a broader reality: the province's roads and bridges have been underfunded for years, and the backlog of needed repairs is substantial.

Some work in the region wrapped up last year, including repaving on Boulevard des Allumettières in Gatineau, fixing the Highway 50 overpass over Highway 5, and replacing a bridge over the Picanoc River near Otter Lake.

Quebec is spending nearly $195 million on Outaouais roads and bridges between 2026 and 2028, including a long-awaited fix to a Highway 50 interchange in Gatineau, with most of the money going toward repairing aging infrastructure rather than building anything new. Photo: Sonia Roy, West Quebec Post Archives