Quebec says crews will remove all trees that threaten Highway 138 near Port-Cartier over the next three weeks.
The mayor of Port-Cartier, Alain Thibault, urges the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ) to carry out the work to clean up the uprooted trees on the side of Route 138.
The storm that occurred at the end of December weakened several trees along Route 138, particularly in the area between Port-Cartier and Baie-Trinité.
Falling trees were observed across the entire network. On the other hand, the sector between Baie-Trinité and Port-Cartier was particularly affected by the winds, indicates MTQ communications advisor Sarah Gaudreault.
Sarah Gaudreault, communications advisor at the Quebec Ministry of Transport (File photo)
While uprooted trees still threaten to fall on Route 138, the mayor finds it worrying that the ministry is slow to act to secure the area.
For having lived through the storm in December, with five long days without electricity, it's worrying to see that trees, which threaten the [electrical] wires, are still there, he laments.
“I hope that this work will be prioritized during the summer, so that we can be quiet next winter in the event of strong winds. »
— Alain Thibault, Mayor of Port-Cartier
Alain Thibault, Mayor of Port-Cartier (File photo)
The MTQ spokesperson indicates that teams will remove all the trees that threaten Route 138 near Port-Cartier over the next three weeks.
Our teams are progressing quietly between Port- Cartier and Sept-Iles. All trees that could fall on the road or threaten people's safety will be removed, she said.
Sarah Gaudreault, however, specifies that it is up to the companies concerned to remove the trees that threaten to fall on lines, whether electrical, telecommunications or otherwise.
Uprooted trees threaten to fall on Highway 138, especially near Port -Cartier.
In a written statement, Hydro-Québec indicates that work related to vegetation is planned by the end of the year on the entire distribution network in the Port-Cartier sector.
His media relations advisor Marie-Ève Duguay says the reported section of fallen trees since November 2022, between Baie-des-Homards and Pointe-aux-Anglais, concerns telecommunications cables .
Our teams carry out inspections on the network before and after each major weather event. When situations that put the electrical network at risk are identified during inspections or reports made by citizens, we take care of them quickly, she says in writing.
For its part, the company Telus indicates that the segment of the network of telecommunications wires, between Port-Cartier and Baie-Trinité, does not belong to it. Its spokesperson, Jacinthe Beaulieu, assures that its teams cleaned up, in January, the trees that had fallen or threatened to have repercussions on its network.
La porte- word of Cogego, Anastasia Unterner, indicates for her part that the telecommunication lines mentioned by Hydro-Québec, between Baie-des-Homards and Pointe-aux-Anglais, are not those of her company. These cables are not ours, but those of another service provider, she states in writing.
With the collaboration of Lambert Gagné- Coulombe
