By Danielle Nerman
The long-delayed pedestrian bridge connecting Centretown to Sandy Hill is facing a new hurdle.
The Rideau Canal Pedestrian Crossing has been awaiting funding and approval for years.
But an official planning and environmental assessment report, released last week, recommended that a second, more thorough archaeological assessment be taken after the first one found the site for the overpass to have high potential to contain historic remains from the construction of the canal.
“Any construction that takes place beside water has potential to encounter historic artifacts because so many settlements developed along waterways,” says Vivi Chi, manager of transportation and infrastructure for the City of Ottawa, of the bridge that would connect Somerset Street West and the Nicholas Street underpass.
Before construction can begin at any site, Ontario provincial legislation requires that an archaeological assessment be done. If a second assessment is recommended, it must be done before construction.
Lynda Villeneuve, Heritage Program manager at the National Capital Commission (NCC), says this may cause delays.
“If a site has high potential for archaeological resources, a second archaeological assessment must be done before any disturbance such as construction is made to the site,” she says.
Chi says the second archaeological assessment is set to happen during the design phase of the bridge. At that time, any refinements to the final design, which was also recommended in the environmental report, would be carried out.
“Only one design was recommended, but it has two possible variations,” says Chi. “The variations are identical except for one has single legs going into the canal and the other has double.”
The preferred design was chosen with the help of the public, Parks Canada and the NCC. Aesthetics, safety, functionality and protecting the view of important national symbols, such as Parliament, were factors in choosing the bridge’s final design.
However, the final design will only proceed to the design phase and then construction if city council makes it a priority.
Centretown resident Ron Bos, who lives near the Rideau Canal, hopes the city never makes the pedestrian bridge a priority.
“I think it is a waste of money, especially in a time when there are so many other things the city could be spending our money on, such as affordable housing and the homeless,” says Bos.
The environmental report also studied the rationale for building the bridge. The report shows that in 2001, roughly 23,000 people lived in Sandy Hill and the Golden Triangle — the community bounded by the Rideau Canal, the Queensway, Lisgar and O’Connor streets.
The report cited the high density of the urban population in Centretown and Sandy Hill as one of the main reasons for building the bridge.
“The purpose of the bridge is to connect two community groups together and open accessibility to the University of Ottawa,” says Chi.
The report also gave tourism as a reason to build the bridge, saying it will establish a convenient pedestrian route for tourists.
“This bridge is going to become an Ottawa landmark and a great place to take photos of Parliament and the city,” says Chi.