Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge Ottawa's Eiffel Tower, Watson says at ribbon cutting
Meghan Hurley, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: July 12, 2014, Last Updated: July 12, 2014 5:23 PM EDT
Two years late, and at a cost of $48 million, the Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge — or Ottawa’s Eiffel Tower, as Mayor Jim Watson called it Saturday — has finally been officially opened.
The mayor was joined by a large crowd that also included Barrhaven councillor Jan Harder and Riverside South councillor Steve Desroches at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 1:15 p.m. on the eastern side of the structure that spans the Rideau River.
“It looks like our version of the Eiffel Tower right here in Riverside South. This is going to be a new landmark,” Watson said. “Forget the Sydney Opera House, forget the bridge in St. Louis. We’ve got the Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge.”
Watson’s statement was met with a round of applause from the hundreds of people who gathered for the bridge opening, which was a relief to Desroches. He now will no longer be the only city councillor who has to leave his ward to get from one end to the other.
“We can put construction behind us and begin to enjoy all the benefits this bridge has promised,” Desroches said.
Desroches said he’s going to find himself in an odd position now, since pushing for the bridge has been a major part of his work on behalf of his constituents since he was first elected in 2006.
Watson said Saturday he remembers the first phone call he received after he was sworn in as Ottawa West-Nepean MPP was from Desroches about the bridge.
“We had an expression in our office. The most frightening words we could hear: Steve Desroches on line one,” Watson joked. “He did his job, he fought hard and today we’re here to open this beautiful, beautiful bridge.”
Nearly two decades after it was first proposed, and two years after its expected completion day, the bridge will connect Barrhaven to Riverside South and Strandherd Drive to Earl Armstrong Road.
Watson had said late in June that only final tests and minor landscaping work were left to be done before the bridge could open.
The new bridge will be a third option to cross the Rideau River in the south end of the city and should improve traffic conditions on other bridges. The bridge has four lanes for regular traffic, two additional turning lanes and two lanes for public transit. It also features on-road bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides.
Desroches said he believes the new bridge will result in improved transit services, shorter commutes, reduced emergency response times and improved access to shopping and recreation.
Riverside South resident Rachelle Trudel said her commute to the RCMP building in Barrhaven will decrease from about 25 minutes to about seven, she guesses.
Before the bridge was opened, she had to drive through Manotick on the way to work and on Hunt Club Road on the way home.
“I literally did a circle,” she said.
Trudel believes Riverside South residents will benefit more from the new link because they will flood Barrhaven for shopping.
Despite the benefits for Trudel, she thinks the amount of time it took to build the bridge was too long.
“It’s the most magnificent bridge in Ottawa, clearly,” she said. “Why we needed this? I don’t know when we could have had a normal bridge and maybe gotten it sooner.”
Riverside South resident Derrek Konrad, a former member of Parliament for Prince Albert, Sask., agreed the bridge is impressive, but it took too long to build.
Konrad’s nine-year-old grandson, Theo, said his grandfather could have benefited form having the bridge completed sooner.
“What I’m kind of upset about is that my granddad is retired from Home Depot, and all the times he wished he could cross this bridge to get to where he worked on his business.”
Konrad said he has held several jobs since he was an MP, mostly recently at the Home Depot in Barrhaven.
Wayne Watson, a Barrhaven resident, said he’s worried the bridge will draw more commuters onto Prince of Wales Drive, which is already clogged by traffic during rush hour. He said the road needs to be widened in order to handle any increased traffic.
“It already takes almost an hour to get downtown,” he said. “That’s going to add to it.”
While some residents are concerned about more the bridge bringing more traffic into the area, Barrhaven resident Leigh Perreault said she believes it will actually make the drive out of her neighbourhood easier by channeling traffic to other roads.
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...-open-saturday
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Yup, people are going to come from around the world to visit the "landmark" Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge.
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