Chief William Commanda Bridge (former Prince of Wales Bridge)

[J.OT13]

There was a big controversy when they closed Gamelin to vehicular traffic because it was an important route for emergency vehicles. I guess this was the compromise.

If they cut though using Gamelin for a Rapibus system (with rail along the river), the corridor could continue to be used for emergency vehicles.

[harls]

The segment between the park entrance and St-Raymond was never open to regular traffic, as far as I know. It was an actual road up until not too long ago (2013-ish?) when they made it into a prettier bike path. I didn't know if fire trucks could fit on it anymore, but I guess they can.

That would be a scary situation on a bicycle, having a fire truck horn blasting on your ass.

[Allandale25]

Article includes a map showing the LRT plan would use the bridge.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ga...unding-province-quebec-secured-1.5168105

[PHrenetic]

Originally Posted by Allandale25

Article includes a map showing the LRT plan would use the bridge.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ga...unding-province-quebec-secured-1.5168105

Good Day.

Positive news indeed.

Be aware - as noted in the map caption in the article, this was the first map/plan that had been proposed to get the planning up and running. It has been superceeded by the subsequent ancilliary study and plan/map which is proposing the Portage Bridge to Lyon, since the study noted that Bayview is just of too low capacity, in their opinion, at this stage of planning.

Also, as always, the planning is in way early stages, needing a full analysis and EA, as the article noted.

EnJoy!

[zzptichka]

Ottawa Centre Federal Liberal Riding Association
@OCFLA
Media Advisory:
@cathmckenna
, Liberal candidate for #OttawaCentre, will make an announcement regarding the Prince of Wales Bridge tomorrow at 10 am. Details here: https://bit.ly/2kPODz9 #elxn43 #cdnpoli #Ottawa

Interesting.
Obviously she can't announce funding for anything.
Campaign promise for a pathway link?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by zzptichka

Interesting.
Obviously she can't announce funding for anything.
Campaign promise for a pathway link?

I seem to recall seeing something in the French language media about McKenna and interprovincial crossings. I'll try to find it.

[Acajack]

Here we go. This quote is related to an article discussing LRT in Gatineau and its linkages with Ottawa.

De son côté, la candidate libérale dans Ottawa-Centre, Catherine McKenna, a laissé entendre que son parti allait bientôt annoncer ses couleurs dans ce dossier.

«On doit avoir un plan de transport et ça inclus le train léger, parce que les gens habitent des deux côtés [de la rivière]», a-t-elle indiqué. «Les gens travaillent des deux côtés, ils jouent des deux côtés, alors ça, ça va être la vision. On va annoncer plus pendant la campagne.»

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1303792/arrimage-train-leger-ottawa-gatineau-enjeu-elections

[Allandale25]

Translated below, in case that helps. I also note that they either didn't ask or didn't include any quotes from the Moose proponents.

Light Rail Expansion to Hull-Aylmer: Election Candidates Speak Out

Roxane Léouzon
Posted yesterday at 4 h 42
The expansion of the light rail network to Gatineau could receive attention during the election campaign. Several federal election candidates in the region have spoken out about the public transit system they want to see installed to tie Ottawa's light rail system to the west of Gatineau.

The Outaouais Transportation Corporation (STO) is still evaluating several scenarios to better serve the citizens of Hull and Aylmer. It favors for the moment a system that would pass on the bridge of Portage.

Other options are still under consideration, including fully rail or all-bus systems. The Mayor of Gatineau is in favor of a light rail project.

Nicolas Thibodeau, candidate of the New Democratic Party in Hull-Aylmer, for his part supports an electric mode of transportation, such as light rail, for this project.

"We already have buses, and here, what is important is to have an energy transition to electricity, so the electrification of transport", he justified, adding that collaboration with municipalities will be crucial in this case.

Mike Duggan, a Conservative candidate for Hull-Aylmer, believes a larger bus system would be more affordable and better serve the needs of citizens in the west end of the city. It is also open to the idea of ​​a tram, but not that of a light rail.

"In Gatineau, it's unidirectional. In the morning, we come to the center, and in the evening, we go to the suburbs. There is not a pole of attraction wide enough to justify a light train at home", he explained.

Mr. Duggan believes that it would be possible to quickly move more buses through existing bridges, such as the Champlain Bridge, as well as eventually through the Prince of Wales Bridge, to reach the light rail transit stations. west of Ottawa.

"We have to have a transportation plan and that includes light rail, because people live on both sides [of the river] , she said. People work on both sides, they play on both sides, so that's going to be the vision. We will announce more during the campaign."

"The Bloc Québécois candidate in Hull-Aylmer has not decided on the mode of transportation to adopt for this project. Joanie Riopel, however, demands that the decision be handed over entirely to the provincial and municipal levels of government.

The Quebec government has already announced that it is ready to finance a light rail project in the west of Gatineau at 60% of the costs, but funding from the federal government is still uncertain."

With information from Antoine Trépanier

[Allandale25]

Originally Posted by zzptichka

Interesting.
Obviously she can't announce funding for anything.
Campaign promise for a pathway link?

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1174688499213225984

This would seem to hint at what's to come in a campaign press conference today.

Wonder if the Moose folks will be there to watch?

Update: live video is here in case it's of interest https://www.facebook.com/McKenna.Ottawa/videos/468873623719675/

[zzptichka]

Giacomo Panico
@GiacomoPanico
·
1h
Liberal candidates Greg Fergus, Catherine McKenna & Will Amos promising to rehabilitate Prince of Wales Bridge over Ottawa River for pedestrians & cyclists.
As for public transit across the bridge, perhaps down the road #ottbike #ottwalk

Makes sense give neither city has shown any interest in running trains through it.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by zzptichka

Makes sense give neither city has shown any interest in running trains through it.

The stubbornness of the municipalities on this front is probably my biggest single transit beef outside the service to inner Ottawa residents.

Once this bridge is converted to a cycle path, it will never, ever, EVER be retroconverted to transit. The anti-transit lobby will see to that.

[zzptichka]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

The stubbornness of the municipalities on this front is probably my biggest single transit beef outside the service to inner Ottawa residents.

Once this bridge is converted to a cycle path, it will never, ever, EVER be retroconverted to transit. The anti-transit lobby will see to that.

Most likely it would have to be completely rebuilt for trains anyway at this point. So it's a moot point.

[dougvdh]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

The stubbornness of the municipalities on this front is probably my biggest single transit beef outside the service to inner Ottawa residents.

Once this bridge is converted to a cycle path, it will never, ever, EVER be retroconverted to transit. The anti-transit lobby will see to that.

What 'Anti-Transit Lobby'?

[lrt's friend]

The POW bridge could have a MUP hanging off one or both sides of the bridge. I don't see this as a deal killer in the long run. Letting the bridge rot into the river is another story.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

The POW bridge could have a MUP hanging off one or both sides of the bridge. .

Yes, similar to the Pont Noir that the Rapibus crosses the Gatineau River on.

[danishh]

i'm fine with this as an interim measure.

I'm coming around to the idea in the long-term that the Feds should just buy/take POW from the city of Ottawa, rebuild it, and give it to Gatineau.

Gatineau, with provincial and federal money, can then build a line from aylmer to hull with a spur to bayview down the new POW bridge. If they want they can run a single line that does the Bayview detour on the way to Hull (annoying for Aylmerites headed to Hull, i know). If the economics allow it, they could run 3 separate lines on the track: Aylmer-Hull, Aylmer-Bayview, and Hull-Bayview. Eventually the Hull line could be extended via Fournier/Greber or perhaps wrapping around Sacre Coeur to the Rapibus corridor.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by dougvdh

What 'Anti-Transit Lobby'?

The one that would cry bloody murder if you tried to graft transit back onto what would have become by that future point a Holy and Sacred "Bike" Bridge.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by danishh

i'm fine with this as an interim measure.

It almost would have to be made statutory, if not constitutional, that it's interim: once a ROW is converted from rail to recreational, that's it. End of story.

[acottawa]

It makes very little sense as a transit corridor. Gatineau has already committed to BRT for the rail corridor on the Gatineau side. Gatineau has already committed to surface LRT for its next round of transit upgrades and wants (quite justifiably) a more central connection to Ottawa, and Ottawa still hasn't made any long-term decisions on the future of Line 2. Unless any of those things change there is little chance of using the bridge.

Even if something changes, it is unclear that trying to reuse a century old bridge would be cheaper than building a new one nearby.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by acottawa

It makes very little sense as a transit corridor.

It makes a great deal of sense for a great many origin-destination pairings even if it doesn't line up with the official planning orthodoxy of either city.