Ottawa Sun
Published: Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Kettle Island is best option

Coun. Jan Harder's description of Monday's decision by the transportation committee to add Lower Duck Island as an option for building an interprovincial bridge is bang on. As she said, it's "absolutely bizarre."

In a nutshell, the Kettle Island option -- already endorsed by the city as its preferred location -- has traffic coming down Montee Paiment in Gatineau, crossing at Kettle Island, and linking to the Aviation Parkway and on out to the 174/417 interchange.

The City of Gatineau has already designated the corridor on its side and it would link up with existing road and highway infrastructure on the Ontario side. From an engineering perspective, as the NCC's consultants have concluded, it is the best option of 10 that were considered.

Before going further, I will disclose that I live in Orleans and have a bias.

More than 35 years have passed since the last bridge -- Portage -- was built across the Ottawa River. And the latest inter-provincial bridge study process is the third NCC-led effort in the last two decades. Each bridge study process comes with its own shake-and-stir political posturing, understandable yet excessive NIMBY-ism and rampant community mobilization.

The present process is no exception.

Here's what most folks can agree upon: After two decades of stable population growth, our region's social and economic activity is even more intertwined and the pressure for new river crossings does exist. Moreover, the growth trend east -- both out to Orleans and beyond, along with the explosive growth on the Gatineau side -- has outpaced combined growth in the west. And everyone concurs that the truck traffic along the King Edward corridor has to go ... like yesterday.

To be fair to the residents of Rockcliffe and Manor Park, a new $500-million bridge (or more) will be a disruption, just as any new public infrastructure initiative usually is.

And of course it won't remove all the truck traffic from our downtown core. No bridge solution can make such a claim.

However, other measures can be implemented, including massive fines and residential truck traffic restrictions. In addition, to address their legitimate neighbourhood and quality of life concerns, the NCC should commit to only one exit after the crossing, for example, Ogilvie Rd. Further, underpasses should be constructed both at Montreal and Ogilvie roads.

Opponents of the Kettle Island option sometimes point to a 20-year-old study that recommends Petrie Island as the best location for a bridge as it could tie into a future ring road.

Twenty years ago maybe, but not today.

To start, we have now built a beach -- with millions of dollars from the city -- at Petrie Island and both Trim Rd. and the northern Frank Kenney corridor are pure residential neighbourhoods as opposed to the mixed use (read: Commercial, industrial and residential) zoning along the Aviation Pkwy. corridor. As for any level of government making a decision on the ring road, you'd be safer betting on the Toronto Maple Leafs winning the Stanley Cup.

A new bridge in the east end -- preferably the Kettle Island option -- will smooth traffic flows, remove a good chunk of truck traffic from King Edward Ave. and the Lowertown area and be a boon for local construction contractors and workers.

The sooner we put this decision to bed, the sooner we can get on with lobbying the feds and Ontario and Quebec to find the money to build it.