Authorities in Quebec say they’ve had no contact with Pittsfield -based Cianbro in regards to the proposed east-west highway since 2008

The proposed $2 billion toll road aims to connect New Brunswick on Maine’s eastern border Quebec on the state’s western border, giving quicker access to Montreal and the industrial Midwest of the United States and Canada. While the highway would link to a four-lane, controlled access highway at St. Stephen, N.B., across the border from Calais, there is no such link on the Quebec side of the border.

In order to complete the high-speed route to Montreal and beyond, someone must build a new highway from Coburn Gore across 60 miles of southeastern Quebec to Sherbrooke, where it could connect with Quebec Autoroute 10.

“Our department met with Cianbro in 2008 and we explained them steps and process through which this type of project has to go in Quebec,” said Quebec Ministry of Transportation spokesman Mario St-Pierre, who said the ministry had offered to help Cianbro negotiate the process.

“Since 2008, we haven’t heard from them,” he said.

Local political representatives had a similar experience. “The idea was presented to elected people here in Quebec, but since 2008 we didn’t have more information back from the promoter, Cianbro,” said Veronique Lachance, political attache to Johanne Gonthier, the representative to the National Assembly of Quebec for Lac-Megantic and the Estrie region, through which a new highway would pass.

Sources in the Sherbrooke area said they were doubtful that the province would build a highway anytime soon, given the backlog of projects in the province. A bypass to Autoroute 10 in the Sherbrooke area, Autoroute 410, remains incomplete nearly two decades after it was first discussed.

The existing road from Coburn Gore is a winding two-lane road. A multilane highway would likely shave an hour off the overall travel time to Montreal, making the east-west route more competitive with the Trans Canada Highway, which boomerangs around northern Maine.

Peter Vigue, CEO of Cianbro, said his company has a plan to facilitate the creation of the Coburn Gore-Sherbrooke link, but that he could not share details.

“Hope is not a strategy,” he said. “So we have a strategy and we have a plan. And I’m very satisfied with it, and it will allow us to go forward in the future across the border.”

Vigue has said the toll highway across Maine could be completed as early as 2019.

“We’re well aware of the protocol and how things work in the province of Quebec,” he said. “It’s a work in progress as we speak.”

While the Ministry of Transportation reports having no contact in recent years, St-Pierre regards the project in a positive light.

“The (ministry) believes it could be beneficial to all regions of Quebec, especially the Estrie area, and well fitting into a policy of rural development,” he said.