By Rhowan Sivel
It’s a long walk from Somerset West to Somerset East.
But it could be shorter if the residents on both sides of the canal get their way.
Residents in Sandy Hill and Centretown are hoping for a pedestrian bridge across the Rideau Canal, says Somerset Coun. Elisabeth Arnold.
One hundred and fifty residents from both communities heard plans for a bridge linking Somerset West with the Campus Transitway at an open house at city hall on Feb. 27.
The bridge would give Centretown residents easier access to OC Transpo’s main bus routes and the University of Ottawa campus.
Having pedestrian and bicycle access between the existing bridges, Laurier and Pretoria, which are now a kilometre and a half apart, will make it easier and more convenient for residents to get around.
It also promotes alternative modes of transportation, Arnold says.
“Everyone is very positive,” says Chris Gordon, project engineer with the City of Ottawa.
“It’s a neat opportunity to connect the two communities.”
Gordon says residents and technical advisors at the meeting decided to plan for an overpass rather than a tunnel because it would be simpler technically and safer for users.
No further design decisions have been made yet.
Peter Marowitz, president of Action Sandy Hill, says residents there are as excited as Centretown citizens.
“People do a lot of walking in Centretown. That’s why they live there,” he says.
Marowitz crosses the canal when it’s frozen, and he says he’d like to be able to cross it at the same place in the summer.
But he may have a long wait to get directly from Somerset West to Sandy Hill without getting wading through the water of the canal.
Gordon estimates it will be nine months before the city has a plan for the bridge, but budget problems could slow things down.
“It’s hard to say when we’ll be up and running because a lot of what happens (will) depend on the city’s new budget,” he says.
The capital budget won’t be released until March 21, says Karen Tippett, a city finance official.
David Gladstone is the chair of the development and transportation committee with the Centretown Citizens Community Association.
He says the bridge idea has been around for a really long time–20 years, but it has never been this far in the planning stage.
After the planning stage is complete, it probably won’t be until 2003 or 2004 when the bridge construction is finished, says Gordon.
Gladstone says the response to the plan at the meeting was stunning and with a full presentation to the city advocating the bridge.
Gladstone says the city has to listen to the public now.