Ottawa politicians oppose funding interprovincial bridge
Mayor says estimated $1.16-billion cost could be better spent on light rail
By Derek Spalding, OTTAWA CITIZEN May 28, 2013 7:06 PM
OTTAWA — Funding a new interprovincial bridge between Ottawa and Gatineau will require a significant shift in political priorities, say politicians adamantly opposed to the latest proposal for a corridor across Kettle Island.
The National Capital Commission, working with the ministries of transportation in both Ontario and Quebec, selected a crossing that connects the Aviation Parkway with Montée Paiement as the preferred route for a $1.16-billion bridge, but so far there is little support from politicians in the nearby wards and ridings.
Madeleine Meilleur, the MPP for Ottawa-Vanier, says she will urge her Liberal government to not fund the project because it is too close to neighbourhoods in her riding. Mayor Jim Watson and several members of his council oppose a new bridge as well, saying any new federal and provincial money should be spent on light-rail transit.
NCC board members and their consultants say there is a clear need for a new bridge and the preferred Kettle Island corridor will set up the region for population growth and increased traffic demands while removing a portion of commercial truck traffic from the downtown King Edward Avenue.
Another bridge through the city, however, does not sit well with the politicians, who say putting trucks into residential neighbourhoods only spreads around the downtown problem.
“I’m not going to recommend to my government to finance this corridor that doesn’t make any sense to my community,” Meilleur said. “This is not an option. We need to solve the problem, not move the problem.”
Representatives from the NCC urge politicians to consider the need for infrastructure that will serve the region for decades to come. A bridge and an expanded Aviation Parkway will anchor the region for growth over the next 20 or 30 years, said Fred Gaspar, the NCC’s director of federal approvals and environmental management.
“If there is no consensus, if there’s no willingness to make that happen, then that’s its natural fate, but we think this is an important study that really shows the need for making some long-term solutions,” he said. “We have to build for the future. We have to build in an integrated fashion to reflect that we are an integrated region and community.”
The city will give official comment to the NCC in June at its transportation committee meeting, according to a statement from the mayor’s office, which indicates Watson “hopes the federal government will listen to the concerns of the City of Ottawa and the many residents opposed to this proposal.”
Watson also opposes the current preferred option because it funnels trucks through residential neighbourhoods.
“Instead of building an unnecessary bridge, these funds could help extend the line and deliver light rail transit further east, west and south even sooner,” he said in the statement.
Coun. Rainer Bloess agrees with the NCC that Kettle Island corridor is the best of the three options, but in terms of the city’s priorities, he does not rank a bridge to Gatineau high on the list.
“I still think you need to make a future planning decision for a future crossing somewhere,” he said. “If you don’t make that planning decision now, you’re going to be having the same debate 10 years from now, 20 years from now.”
Without support for a bridge, residents and business owners near King Edward are left looking for a solution to commercial truck traffic issues, said Mathieu Fleury, ward councillor for Rideau-Vanier.
“I don’t know if there’s willingness to support the Kettle corridor proposal, so I don’t know where that’s going to leave us,” he said.
dspalding@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/Derek_Spalding
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