Interprovincial bridge crossing discussion

[urbanforest]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Here's a visual aid for this discussion...

The following mashup depicts the shortest current route from the A5\A50 junction to Hwy 417, which is 6.2km via the KERWN corridor. The same trip via a Kettle Island bridge would be approx 19.4km, or 13.2km longer. Ignore the estimated travel times, which happen to be bad right now through the core.

And clearly the worst impact is on truck traffic coming and going from central and west Ottawa. Traffic coming and going to east Ottawa would have a less long "detour", as it would be travelling to the vicinity of The Split anyway.

I'm sleep deprived so please forgive me if I'm missing something obvious, but doesn't your image show that a trip on the new crossing would be ~12km, or only about 6km more than via KERWN?

[hwy418]

Originally Posted by acottawa

I don’t think there is a legal truck route leading to the portage bridge. Wellington is closed to trucks west of Kent and the parkway does not allow trucks.

Closing all of the bridges is obviously not feasible.

I think part of the problem here is that all of these surveys count all commercial vehicles as “trucks” but from a city bylaw (and the general public’s perspective) they are worried about large 18 wheelers, not the 5 tonne truck delivering a mattress.

The NCC goes step further as it prohibits all commercial vehicles, so in Ontario that means any vehicle with a plate with black lettering which includes all pickup trucks unless you get an exemption sticker that indicates the vehicle is for personal use.

[CanadaGoose]

Originally Posted by urbanforest

I'm sleep deprived so please forgive me if I'm missing something obvious, but doesn't your image show that a trip on the new crossing would be ~12km, or only about 6km more than via KERWN?

Using king Edward:
6km from Nicholas/417 to A-5/A-50 spilt
7km from A-5/50 spilt to Montee Paiement and Maloney.
13km from Nicholas/417 to Montee Paiement and Maloney

Using new east-end bridge:
12.3km from Nicholas/417 to Montee Paiement and Maloney.
12.3+7km =19.3 km from Nicholas/417 to A-5/A-50 spilt via new bridge.

Reason for A-5/A-50 spilt, because NCC states freight comes from St Joseph / A-5, and I guess that Innes and 417 area.

Anyways:
12.3-4.4+7=14.9km from Aviation Parkway / 417 to A-5/A-50 spilt via new bridge
4.4+6=10.4km from Aviation Parkway 417 to A-5/A-50 spilt via king Edward bridge

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by urbanforest

I'm sleep deprived so please forgive me if I'm missing something obvious, but doesn't your image show that a trip on the new crossing would be ~12km, or only about 6km more than via KERWN?

You're overlooking part of the "detour". 12.3 + 7.1 = 19.4km

I chose the A5\A50 junction as the starting point as it is the last common point on both routes south of Gatineau's largest commercial\industrial zone.

[J.OT13]

Petition in favour of the Kettle Island Bridge: https://chng.it/qPdV2mGpJy

[J.OT13]

Unlike the tram that has minority support in the east, even the west supports the bridge.

SONDAGE | L’appui au tramway perd des plumes

Par Mathieu Bélanger, Le Droit
27 octobre 2025 à 04h09

==SNIP==

Pont dans l’est

Le projet du gouvernement fédéral d’ajouter un pont dans l’est de Gatineau recueille pour sa part la faveur de 73 % des répondants au sondage Segma. À peine 20 % des répondants affirment s’y opposer et 7 % n’ont pas de position claire.

L’appui au pont de l’île Kettle rallie une forte majorité de répondants d’est en ouest. Ils sont 83 % à appuyer le projet à Masson-Angers/Buckingham et 68 % à Aylmer.

Les partisans d’Action Gatineau sont aussi en faveur du projet dans une proportion de 64 %. Chez ceux de l’Équipe Mario Aubé, c’est sans équivoque, alors que 83 % des partisans de M. Aubé affirment être en faveur du projet.

«Quand la démonstration aura été faite par des études qu’un pont dans l’est est le bon moyen pour alléger la circulation, j’y serai intéressée», a indiqué la cheffe d’Action Gatineau. Mme Marquis-Bissonnette n’affirme pas être contre le projet de pont dans l’est, contrairement à son prédécesseur à la tête du parti, Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin, qui s’y était vivement opposé.

«On parle d’un sixième pont, mais en réalité on devrait plutôt parler d’un premier pont dans l’est, insiste le chef de l’Équipe Mario Aubé, qui appuie sans réserve le projet fédéral. C’est une solution qui doit faire partie d’une stratégie globale pour la mobilité de toute notre ville. Sa construction va améliorer la fluidité dans l’est, mais aussi dans le centre parce que les gens n’auront plus l’obligation d’emprunter le pont des Draveurs et se rendre au centre-ville pour traverser à Ottawa. Il permettrait aussi de développer tout notre secteur du parc industriel de l’aéroport. C’est un projet qui sera économiquement positif pour Gatineau.»

https://www.ledroit.com/actualites/actua...d-des-plumes-SOP4YRXI6VC35CTN3FHTORZKYQ/

[AuxTown]

The only thing more ridiculous than the fact that we are still discussing this bridge is the fact we don't have a west end bridge proposal as well!

Unfortunately, we have a lot of very rich folks along the river in the west and then an active military facility

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by AuxTown

The only thing more ridiculous than the fact that we are still discussing this bridge is the fact we don't have a west end bridge proposal as well!

Unfortunately, we have a lot of very rich folks along the river in the west and then an active military facility

Yeah, that a tough one. If they ever built the A50 extension through Gatineau Park to Aylmer, it would make sense to cross and connect to the 416. The Quebec Government still owns the land for that project, but I'm not sure I'd want it to tear through Gatineau Park. There's no corridor reserved on the Ottawa side, so we'd need to expropriate a lot of people.

[Tesladom]

I still find it ridiculous that we are moving ahead with the new Alexandria bridge replacement, I'd rather we use that 1.7B for Kettle
I am sure that the existing structure would hold up fine as a pedestrian bridge for a long time

[harls]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Unlike the tram that has minority support in the east, even the west supports the bridge.

Yeah, because it will slightly help clear up capacity on the overburdened bridges for the people in the west end.

[harls]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Yeah, that a tough one. If they ever built the A50 extension through Gatineau Park to Aylmer, it would make sense to cross and connect to the 416. The Quebec Government still owns the land for that project, but I'm not sure I'd want it to tear through Gatineau Park. There's no corridor reserved on the Ottawa side, so we'd need to expropriate a lot of people.

If they tore up Andrew Haydon park for a freeway there would be insane backlash. The guy actually just died one year ago.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by harls

Yeah, because it will slightly help clear up capacity on the overburdened bridges for the people in the west end.

Those in the east end don't seem to understand that the tramway could relieve the bridges too by getting more people on transit.

[CanadaGoose]

I am looking forward to a 3km red line from Montee Paiement to Main st on Maloney to turn left onto Montee Paiement.

And the line up along Montee Paiement every morning.

[Aylmer]

«On parle d’un sixième pont, mais en réalité on devrait plutôt parler d’un premier pont dans l’est, insiste le chef de l’Équipe Mario Aubé, qui appuie sans réserve le projet fédéral. C’est une solution qui doit faire partie d’une stratégie globale pour la mobilité de toute notre ville. Sa construction va améliorer la fluidité dans l’est, mais aussi dans le centre parce que les gens n’auront plus l’obligation d’emprunter le pont des Draveurs et se rendre au centre-ville pour traverser à Ottawa. »

Finally the good people of Gatineau will be able to zip into downtown on the 417, famously devoid of any traffic especially at rush hour.

I think that most of the reason that there's support for this is because very few people in Gatineau have any sense of what traffic is like in Ottawa, and therefore assume it to be better than the traffic they're used to.

It'll cost $6B to find out. But it's hard to return a bridge for a refund...

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Aylmer

Finally the good people of Gatineau will be able to zip into downtown on the 417, famously devoid of any traffic especially at rush hour.

I think that most of the reason that there's support for this is because very few people in Gatineau have any sense of what traffic is like in Ottawa, and therefore assume it to be better than the traffic they're used to.

It'll cost $6B to find out. But it's hard to return a bridge for a refund...

The bridge should make commuting easier for people who work at the NRC, Montfort, CMHC, the Spy Agencies or go to school at La Cité Collégiale. I hope that the bridge, and the entire route, will also come with bus lanes to connect La Cité Rapibus to Blair O-Train.

What frustrates me about "War on Cars" Aubé is that as much as he wants to cite the studies that support the east end bridge and understands that it will reduce traffic through the Downtowns, he doesn't seem to support studies that confirm the need for the Aylmer tram or understand that more people on transit means fewer people in cars means less traffic. He cherry picks what he supports his narrative and rejects the rest.

[dougvdh]

Originally Posted by Aylmer

Finally the good people of Gatineau will be able to zip into downtown on the 417, famously devoid of any traffic especially at rush hour.

I think that most of the reason that there's support for this is because very few people in Gatineau have any sense of what traffic is like in Ottawa, and therefore assume it to be better than the traffic they're used to.

It'll cost $6B to find out. But it's hard to return a bridge for a refund...

If that bridge ever gets built, the traffic between the 174/417 split and Nicolas will be so horribly terrible that it will screw over everyone driving into downtown from the east half of Ottawa. Plus adding in merge lanes from Aviation to the 417W (mixed with the 174 merge and the LRT is going to be an interesting task. Probably means the end of the 174 to St. Laurent exit.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by dougvdh

If that bridge ever gets built, the traffic between the 174/417 split and Nicolas will be so horribly terrible that it will screw over everyone driving into downtown from the east half of Ottawa. Plus adding in merge lanes from Aviation to the 417W (mixed with the 174 merge and the LRT is going to be an interesting task. Probably means the end of the 174 to St. Laurent exit.

We'll see how they plan the links on both sides of the river. There may be a possibility they keep the current set-up where you can only go towards Montreal from Aviation.

[OTownandDown]

Driving down the traffic sewer of Nicholas will really open anyone's eyes to the necessity of this bridge... Nice condos, vibrant pedestrians, busy intersections, and a constant line of back to back f*cking disgusting transport trucks.

We should really just sacrifice a bit of land on the Nicholas runway to the 417 for a tunnel entrance, right around Greenfield with the slopes down heading towards uOttawa. Southbound tunnel exits to westbound 417 only. The tunnels would zag under the oTrain line near uOttawa station (while the tracks are above grade) before heading beneath uOttawa. Sink two single-lane tunnel connections at King Edward and Bolton, or even better, somewhere out at Sussex just before the bridge. Cut and Cover the majority of the thing along the length of King Edward, even through Laurier to Rideau section, with a nice downhill section. Simple, really

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Those in the east end don't seem to understand that the tramway could relieve the bridges too by getting more people on transit.

They don't understand this because it's almost certainly not true. There are almost no locations where the tram speeds up the commute to anywhere people are driving to work. That's not to say it won't improve the commute of lots of people along the route who work in Downtown Ottawa but the vast vast majority of these people are already taking transit. It's popular to support transit in this town so the other people get out of their cars and my commute by car will be easier but that's a bit of subfertuge in most cases.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

They don't understand this because it's almost certainly not true. There are almost no locations where the tram speeds up the commute to anywhere people are driving to work. That's not to say it won't improve the commute of lots of people along the route who work in Downtown Ottawa but the vast vast majority of these people are already taking transit. It's popular to support transit in this town so the other people get out of their cars and my commute by car will be easier but that's a bit of subfertuge in most cases.

Depends on if the tram gets its own lanes/row throughout, along with transit priority. Hoping we get some answers once this round of studies are complete. If we can at least get something more reliable and consistent than buses, even if the travel time isn't significantly better than driving, it should still draw more people to transit.