Two Greenbelt Options added for the next Ottawa-Gatineau Interprovincial bridge

 Our aim is to help the citizens of the National Capital Region understand the impact of the two proposed Greenbelt Inter-provincial bridge options on our communities, traffic patterns and the Greenbelt.


Fill in the NCC Inter-provincial TRANSIT Survey by August 8

In 2009 the NCC launched a joint study with the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau to recommend how to improve the quality and efficiency of transit across the Ottawa River.
 
CSC's opinion: Although this is an urban bounded transit study that does not look beyond the Greenbelt and appears to be carried out in isolation of other studies, such as the new east end bridge study, it could hold part of the answer to the challenges facing us in terms of coming up with better solutions to the region’s transportation needs. For this reason we think it is worth your attention.

There is an opportunity to provide input through an online Questionnaire and we urge you to do so. You can access the Comment Sheet by clicking on the following link, and finding the big ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE button.

http://www.interprovincial-transit-strategy.ca

Phase 2A report being presented at June 29 NCC BoD meeting

Now that the consultants have presented the phase 2A "study design" for phase 2B to the City of Ottawa (June 2), the City of Gatineau, it's time for them to present it to the NCC at their 9am June 29th meeting- room 324, 40 Elgin Street.  While there's no opportunity for public consultation at this meeting, please wear green in solidarity for Ottawa's green space if you decide to attend.
 
In early June, Common Sense Crossings joined Sustainable Solutions - a coalition of a number of East End  community groups in protesting that none of the 3 current corridors truly address the downtown truck problem. We further contend that the NCC does not fully understand the jurisdictional difficulities in banning trucks from King Edward when the City of Gatineau has a similar view to any bridge approach on Montee Paiement. A number of motions spearheaded by Sustainable Solutions were adopted by the City of Ottawa's Transport Committee, and we hope that the NCC will see fit to take direction from one of the core partners in this study. 
 
You can listen to a 12 minute interview with Sustainable Solutions on the CBC Radio 1's Ottawa Morning here. 

Some background: In February 2009, two Greenbelt Options, called Lower Duck Island corridor (Option 6) and Gatineau Airport - McLaurin Bay corridor (Option 7), were added to the Kettle Island option (Option 5) to be studied in the NCC's Phase 2 environmental impact study. At the eleventh hour, the Ontario and Quebec governments asked the NCC to study the top 3 candidates from the Phase 1 report, instead of only focusing on the Kettle Island corridor (Option 5) which the NCC's own study recommended.

Aerial views of the corridors are here.


View Interprovincial Bridge Options in a larger map

Why should all National Capital residents oppose these two Greenbelt options?

1. The Greenbelt isn't for highways. If the NCC builds a 4 lane highway through the Eastern Greenbelt then what's next for the Greenbelt near you? We don't want the Eastern Greenbelt destroyed - it's already only 1.1 km wide at the eastern edge, the thinnest in the region. No matter where you live in the National Capital Region -  this would be the thin edge of the wedge for Greenbelt development and decimation as a whole. If there was a bridge to Quebec in the Greenbelt - where would they build a Ring Road in the future?

2. A Greenbelt bridge doesn't solve the truck problem. Diverting King Edward traffic to Lower Duck means a 25km detour for truckers on practically every trip. Will trucks even use a bridge in this location - or will they just divert to another downtown bridge? They can't close all downtown bridges to trucks. Shouldn't we be considering an option that wastes less fuel, and does less damage to the environment.

3. Greenbelt bridge options worsen the traffic problems of East Ottawa and the 417/174 split. Adding additional traffic between the 417 and Montreal Road/Jeanne D'Arc overtaxes the already busy 174, and will drive bridge traffic onto residential streets. A Greenbelt bridge will turn highway 174 into the National Capital Region's biggest parking lot. Close your eyes and imagine what a cloverleaf interchange will do to the bus lanes along 174 today.

4. The Greenbelt Options cost more. The Greenbelt bridge options cost the most and are the least green environmentally of the bridge options.
  1. Bringing three options to Phase 2 (versus one) is costing taxpayers millions of dollars extra. The NCC is already asking the provinces (taxpayers) to fund the extra costs.
  2. The estimated capital bridge costs of the Greenbelt options are $18M and $132M more than the NCC's current study recommended option.
  3. Ongoing per trip fuel costs are much higher due to the significant city core to city core detour.

5. Community impact of these options. There are significant costs to our communities: costs associated with traffic/transit, reduced quality of life, decreased recreational spaces, impact on the Greenbelt and citizens.

  • Option 6 requires the expropriation of 79 homes on the Gatineau side and would split the community.
  • Option 7 comes within 200 meters of Orleans on the Ottawa side, and the bridge would traverse the river diagonally for over a kilometer - landing in an environmentally protected area. Does this make sense?
  • Both options bisect the narrow eastern edge of the Greenbelt. A 4 lane highway would completely destroy this part of the Greenbelt.
  • One hundred thousand people live in Orleans today, and commute times to Ottawa are a major quality of life issue. The Greenbelt options hit the communities east of Montreal Road at Hwy 174 right where it hurts.

Bonus question: What about the so-called "Canotek" option?

There is no Canotek option - it's a red herring leading to Option 6. The Canotek corridor wasn't even studied as one of the 10 corridors in the Phase 1 environmental assessment - because there's no room on the 174 for an interchange at this point.  Also, you cannot put a highway that close to Green's Creek because of the soil make-up in this area and associated instability.   Just ask the South Nation River residents about soil instability and mudslides.


The Greenbelt Bridge Options don't make sense. We need a common sense crossing.

Cette page sera bientot en francais.