Chief William Commanda Bridge (former Prince of Wales Bridge) - Page 59

Kitchissippi · #**1161** Posted **Jul 27, 2021, 2:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

I don't see how you reached that conclusion.

Zero provision for a Gatineau-bound platform, and they made it as difficult as possible to put one in. Bayview was built in an empty green brownfield, and since thy had to remove the original Transitway viaduct, they had virtual carte blanche what to put in there. If an extension to Gatineau was a even a faint consideration for the future, what was built for stage 1 was completely inappropriate, and what’s being built for stage 2 makes it even worse.

OCCheetos · #**1162** Posted **Jul 27, 2021, 11:15 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

Zero provision for a Gatineau-bound platform, and they made it as difficult as possible to put one in. Bayview was built in an empty green brownfield, and since thy had to remove the original Transitway viaduct, they had virtual carte blanche what to put in there. If an extension to Gatineau was a even a faint consideration for the future, what was built for stage 1 was completely inappropriate, and what’s being built for stage 2 makes it even worse.

There is a second platform being built right now for Stage 2.

Of course, just like slapping boards on top of rail, this platform won't have direct access to the second level, because it will rarely be used so why bother spending millions on elevators and escalators for a platform that won't see regular use for at least ~10 years?

I have a much easier time imagining the people who will be outraged in a few months over the "interim" pedestrian walkway that will wrap around the north side of the tracks than I do any bikers/skiers who will be outraged at the cantilevering of their MUP some day in the future.

rocketphish · #**1163** Posted **Jul 27, 2021, 11:31 AM**

Feds confirm $8.6M for bridge transformation at event stressing Indigenous reconciliation

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Jul 26, 2021 • 16 hours ago • 2 minute read

Indigenous reconciliation was at the forefront of an announcement along the Ottawa River on Monday confirming $8.6 million in federal funding to help transform an old rail bridge into a unique interprovincial pathway.

The Chief William Commanda Bridge (previously called the Prince of Wales Bridge) is expected to be ready for pedestrians and cyclists sometime next year. The pathway will be installed on the bridge deck and connect to the National Capital Commission pathways along the river.

Ottawa city council made the name change official earlier this month, voting in favour of honouring the late Algonquin elder while also supporting the $22.6-million project. Council is also requiring the winning construction contractor to consult with Algonquin communities about hiring Indigenous companies and workers for the project.

With the backdrop of the bridge, elected leaders gathered off Onigam Street near Lemieux Island to celebrate the federal funding and change in the bridge’s name.

Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Grand Chief John Boudrias said “there’s no more need than the time right now for reconciliation and these types of gestures are the first steps in reconciliation.”

Boudrias drew a comparison between restoring a bridge and working toward reconciliation.

“We have to reconstruct those bridges of reconciliation and make things new again and make the two sides of the bridges work together again.”

At the same time, Dylan Whiteduck, chief of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, called on the federal government to rename the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway in response to the role Canada’s first prime minister played in creating the residential school system.

The National Capital Commission operates the road along the Ottawa River. Some members of city council have been pressing the federal government to change the name of the parkway.

“In this time of reconciliation, the era we’re entering into, it just doesn’t make sense that we support a name like this on a parkway like this,” Whiteduck said.

Whiteduck said he hopes the refurbished Chief William Commanda Bridge includes vibrant colours, not just the drab browns in the preliminary renderings.

The city stole the feds’ thunder when it confirmed the upper-government funding as part of a project update to council at the beginning of July. The funding announcement was originally scheduled to happen on National Indigenous Peoples Day in June but was cancelled at the last minute; a 26-year-old man died that previous weekend after jumping into the river from the closed bridge.

Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna said the bridge funding might be her last announcement in the capital. McKenna revealed last month that she won’t seek re-election. Her riding of Ottawa Centre includes the part of the bridge.

It was also one of the last times Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin participates in an official event in Ottawa. He’s not seeking re-election in the fall municipal election. The City of Gatineau isn’t contributing money to the bridge transformation. Pedneau-Jobin said he liked those kinds of funding announcements, quipping, “I celebrate the thing and they pay for everything else.”

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...reconciliation

J.OT13 · #**1164** Posted **Jul 27, 2021, 3:15 PM**

Quote:

Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna said the bridge funding might be her last announcement in the capital. McKenna revealed last month that she won’t seek re-election. Her riding of Ottawa Centre includes the part of the bridge.

So, no Gatineau tram? Unless the Capital really means Ottawa proper.

roger1818 · #**1165** Posted **Jul 27, 2021, 4:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by J.OT13

So, no Gatineau tram? Unless the Capital really means Ottawa proper.

I strongly suspect an election will be announced prior to any funding announcements for a Gatineau tram.

rocketphish · #**1166** Posted **Sep 13, 2021, 11:54 AM**

MUP construction closures start today.

Quote:

Dog owners howl over impending closure of Lemieux Island
Could be closed until 2024 for construction on the Chief William Commanda Bridge

Ben Andrews · CBC News
Posted: Sep 12, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: September 12

Some Ottawa dog owners say they're running out of off-leash dog parks, as a popular but informal park on Lemieux Island will be closed while construction goes ahead on the Chief William Commanda Bridge.

There will be no public access to Lemieux Island as of Monday, and construction is authorized to last until July 2024.

Public spaces around the Lemieux Island Water Purification Plant will be used as staging areas and docks, while construction crews convert the decommissioned rail bridge into a pathway across the Ottawa River for cyclists and pedestrians.

"It seems like we're losing spaces for dogs in the neighbourhood," said Morgan Gallupe-Paton, who visits Lemieux Island several times a week with his partner Lauren McBeath and their beagle Mikey.

"At least for the next two years or so, it seems like there are going to be no spaces to let our dogs socialize and enjoy themselves."

The city installed signs in 2019 reminding dog owners to keep their pets on a leash, but many residents have continued to use Lemieux Island as an informal off-leash park.

"Lemieux Island is basically the only place we can take him and let him off-leash," said McBeath.

Many dog owners learned about the closure in a newsletter to constituents circulated by Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper in late August.

Some launched a petition in response, calling on the city to either reserve part of the island for dog owners or turn a piece of nearby land into a park.

The petition had garnered nearly 500 signatures as of Saturday night.

"Lemieux Island is one of very few dog parks in the city of Ottawa that includes water access," it reads. "Due to the recent closure of Laroche Park, citizens in and around the Hintonburg area are left with very few options."

Leiper told CBC News that when he was presented with the closure plan, both he and Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney urged the city to set aside part of the island available for public use.

"What we've been told is essentially the entire island will be a staging area for construction," he said.

CBC reached out to the City of Ottawa for comment but did not get a response in time for publication.

Leiper said he requested the National Capital Commission (NCC) change the designation of a nearby plot of green space north of Burnside Avenue in the Mechanicsville neighbourhood to allow for off-leash dog use, but the agency declined.

That particular lot is the subject of a controversial proposal to build a half-dozen embassies and accompanying parking space.

Leiper said he is now pushing the NCC to install snow fencing along the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway to make it safer for dog owners who choose to let their dogs off leash there anyway.

Nearby alternatives include an off-leash area in the southern portion of Fairmont Park and a space for dogs at the Tom Brown Arena, said Leiper, but he expects many will still feel these alternatives are "a diminishment" of their experience.

Gallupe-Paton is one of them.

"We just want to give them [the dogs] the best experience in this neighbourhood as possible," he said.

With files from Joseph Tunney

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...dogs-1.6172698

JayBuoy · #**1167** Posted **Sep 13, 2021, 2:08 PM**

So confused - there's Laroche Park right there ....

Whether its formally an off-leash park or not, its used as one.

roger1818 · #**1168** Posted **Sep 13, 2021, 3:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayBuoy

So confused - there's Laroche Park right there ....

Whether its formally an off-leash park or not, its used as one.

While Laroche Park is an off leash park, the article says:

Quote:

"Lemieux Island is one of very few dog parks in the city of Ottawa that includes water access," it reads. "Due to the recent closure of Laroche Park, citizens in and around the Hintonburg area are left with very few options."

According to this website, the next closest off-leash dog parks would be Primrose Park, Reid Park and Riverside Terrace Park.

JayBuoy · #**1169** Posted **Sep 13, 2021, 7:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by roger1818

While Laroche Park is an off leash park, the article says:
According to this website, the next closest off-leash dog parks would be Primrose Park, Reid Park and Riverside Terrace Park.

wow I need to go back to School, my reading comprehension needs some work

Dog parks are such a joke. They attract the worst dog owners and their ill-trained dogs. They're not even good for dogs.

This is a non-story.

GoTrans · #**1170** Posted **Sep 14, 2021, 12:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayBuoy

wow I need to go back to School, my reading comprehension needs some work

Dog parks are such a joke. They attract the worst dog owners and their ill-trained dogs. They're not even good for dogs.

This is a non-story.

Dog parks are not a joke, but City of Ottawa dog parks are.

Dzingle Bells · #**1171** Posted **Sep 14, 2021, 1:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayBuoy

wow I need to go back to School, my reading comprehension needs some work

Dog parks are such a joke. They attract the worst dog owners and their ill-trained dogs. They're not even good for dogs.

This is a non-story.

Dog parks are EXTREMELY useful for dog owners. Dogs need somewhere to run around off leash. IF someone has a backyard in the city, it is often too small for the dog to run around in. If an owner lets their dog off leash not in a dog park they get ticketed.

I live in Toronto so I don't know how Ottawa parks are, but there is pretty common knowledge here that if your dog is being aggressive/annoying to other dogs, you have to leave.

Sucks to hear you have had such an bad time at dog parks but as someone that relies on them daily, I cannot stress how crucial they are.

Why do you say they aren't good for dogs?

zzptichka · #**1172** Posted **Sep 14, 2021, 10:52 PM**

Lemieux Island.

CSYOWYEG · #**1173** Posted **Nov 1, 2021, 2:27 PM**

Biked by the bridge a few days ago. They have construction fencing up on most of the south end of the bridge, and they've poured gravel on top of the rails under the SJAM bridge to allow for vehicles to drive onto the bridge. Nice to see progress! Hopefully as part of the project they have budget to repaint/clean the bridge as well.

rocketphish · #**1174** Posted **Nov 29, 2021, 10:15 PM**

City, feds break ground on Chief William Commanda Bridge pathway slated to open next fall

Megan Gillis, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Nov 29, 2021 • 22 minutes ago • 2 minute read

https://twitter.com/JimWatsonOttawa/...68826074353669

A project is officially underway to turn a disused rail bridge into a new way to get between west-end Ottawa and Gatineau for work or play.

City and federal officials broke ground Monday on the multi-use pathway on the Chief William Commanda Bridge over the Ottawa River, including structural repairs to the bridge and deck work.

The pathway is scheduled to open next fall, the City of Ottawa said in a release Monday, but work on the piers and connection to Lemieux Island will continue until the summer of 2024.

The city is spending $14 million on the project while the federal government kicks in $8.6 million.

The bridge, built as a railway link in 1880, was last in service two decades ago. The city bought it from Canadian Pacific Railway in 2005 with an eye to a future light-rail corridor.

City hall now says that, as a multi-use pathway, the bridge will serve as a year-round commuting and recreation link for walking, running, rollerblading, cycling and cross-country skiing.

The project includes rehabilitating the bridge’s structural components and building a new timber deck on top of the existing track while maintaining the steel rails for future rail transit use.

There will be a steel cable railing system, LED lighting and 12 new benches along the pathway linked to Ottawa’s Trillium Pathway, connecting to Bayview Station, and to the National Capital Commission’s Voyageurs Pathway in Gatineau.

The city is reserving two per cent of the budget to commission Algonquin art for the site.

City council voted in July to name the bridge after William Commanda, chief of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation from 1951 to 1970, in honour of the Algonquin elder described as a spiritual leader, promoter of environmental stewardship and a “great bridge builder between nations.”

Ottawa Centre MP Yasir Naqvi said in the release that the bridge will boost emissions-reducing active transportation, connect Gatineau and Ottawa, including LeBreton Flats, and honour Commanda’s legacy.

Mayor Jim Watson said the project will be linked into an Ottawa-Gatineau urban trail system that’s one of the best anywhere, predicting it will become a popular corridor and environmentally friendly commuting option.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...open-next-fall