City, province start study on downtown truck tunnel
Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: August 26, 2014, Last Updated: August 26, 2014 10:31 AM EDT
The city and province are going to split the cost of a $750,000 study to examine a possible tunnel in the downtown core to address the problem of heavy inter-provincial truck traffic.
The city said Tuesday that Parsons, a well-known international engineering consulting firm, has been hired for the job, which is expected to take 18 months.
The news was praised by several local politicians, including Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury, Mayor Jim Watson and MPP Madeleine Meilleur.
“I am committed to finding a real solution to the heavy truck problem in Ottawa; it has gone on for too long. What we need is a sustainable solution,” Meilleur, MPP for Ottawa-Vanier, said in a statement.
Last November, the city unanimously approved Ottawa’s transportation master plan, which will serve as the blueprint for transportations investments in Ottawa for the next two decades.
It was during that discussion that council approved initiating a feasibility study for a downtown tunnel that would establish an alternate connection between Highway 417 and the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge for trucks and vehicles that travel through the downtown area without stopping.
The city says a subsequent environmental assessment, including extensive public consultation, will occue if the study determines that the tunnel project is feasible.
According to the King Edward Task Force, which has long agitated for a solution to the problem, 67 pedestrians were injured on King Edward between 2005 and 2010, with deaths due to motor vehicles occurring in 1997, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
More to come.
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
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