The federal government will contribute $427 million to the project while Montreal will pay $3 million and Boucherville $1.1 million.

The Quebec Transport Ministry on Thursday announced that it had signed a $1.143-billion contract with Renouveau La Fontaine to renovate the 53-year-old Louis-Hippolyte-Lafontaine tunnel in Montreal.

The provincial transport ministry said that public transit will be increased on Highways 20 and 25 to ease the major traffic problems created by the construction, which is scheduled to begin in 2022.

The Louis-Hippolyte-Lafontaine tunnel was inaugurated in 1967 and, at 1.5 kilometres long, is the longest underwater tunnel in Canada.