History
There are currently five interprovincial bridges between Ottawa and Gatineau. Discussions on building a 6th bridge have been going on for decades.
The National Capital Commission (NCC), Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation, and the Ministère des Transports du Québec launched an Environmental Assessment in 2006 to assess potential interprovincial crossing alternatives, to alleviate downtown congestion and deal with the large trucks that drive through downtown.
Timeline:
In 2013 a study recommended a bridge across Kettle Island as the overall best option, but the entire project was abandoned.
In 2020 the NCC commissioned a refresh of the 2013 study.
In January 2022, the NCC reinitiated the project, focusing on only three potential crossing corridors: Kettle Island (Corridor 5), Lower Duck Island (Corridor 6), and McLaurin Bay (Corridor 7) east of downtown (See the map).
In October 2022, the NCC commissioned geotechnical studies of the Ottawa River to assess feasibility.
Background
The continued push for an east-end interprovincial bridge is a federal policy decision that will have a huge impact, not only on all east-end communities but also on Ottawa's transportation planning and traffic infrastructure.
The proposal is to build a six-lane wide interprovincial bridge designed for heavy trucks, 2 lanes in each direction, 2 bus lanes, and additional pathways in the east end of Ottawa. There are three proposed locations: Kettle Island (C5), Lower Duck Island (C6), and McLaurin Bay (C7).
Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) will advise the Minister concerning its recommended site for a new interprovincial crossing when all related studies are completed in the Spring and Summer of 2024. The NCC’s period for subsequent broad consultation is estimated to be 1.5 years.
Although one of the originally stated purposes of the bridge project was to alleviate the downtown truck problem, none of the studies conducted has borne this out. In fact, the Refresh Study found that all three options would reduce truck traffic by only 15%, 10% and 5% respectively. It should be noted that a tunnel option that would result in a 65% reduction in truck traffic was also considered but was rejected because it was deemed too costly.
The total projected cost of the project was over $2 billion in 2010. Today, it would be close to $3 billion, and could easily increase still further, given the unpredictable nature of the project. This estimate does not include infrastructure costs nor life cycle maintenance costs, which will be substantial and borne by all Ottawa taxpayers, at least until the Province of Ontario officially takes ownership of Highway 174, for which there is, as yet, no definite commitment or timeline.
Any bridge, particularly in the Greenbelt, would have significant ecological and environmental impacts that would endanger species and habitats, pollute air and water in the area, erode land and soil, and destroy valuable farmland and our cherished recreational green space, which is an apparent contradiction to the NCC’s Plan for Canada’s Capital 2017-2067 goal to protect and enhance the National Capital Region’s ecological integrity. For more details about how much the NCC itself values and promotes the Greenbelt, visit: Greenbelt - National Capital Commission (ncc-ccn.gc.ca) and Canada's Capital Greenbelt Master Plan
Furthermore, each proposed bridge site in the Greenbelt will cut through the Sir George-Étienne Cartier Riverfront Park. The Public Consultation Report (December 2021) identifies the Park as “a civic gem to be preserved,” with tens of thousands accessing paths and parks for walking, running, biking, skiing, and other uses.
The community is largely unaware of the renewed prospect of a bridge, as, at this stage, PSPC and the NCC have been far from transparent.