By Kym Shumsky
Plans for a pedestrian bridge over the Rideau Canal linking Sandy Hill with Centretown will be presented to the public later this month, says Somerset Coun. Elisabeth Arnold.
The open house is part of an environmental assessment study the city is conducting as part of the planning phase of the project. The forum will address the need for the facility and the options available in terms of building either an overpass or an underpass.
“The purpose of the bridge is to make it easier to cross at the transit station and Centretown,” says Arnold, adding that, so far, public support has been positive. The bridge is sponsored by the new city, the National Capital Commission and Parks Canada.
Vivi Chi, manager of transportation and infrastructure for the City of Ottawa, says the partnership is necessary. “Parks Canada owns the canal, so if we do any work that interferes with their structure we have to get them involved,” she says.
“And the NCC owns the land on either side of the canal so if we have a bridge there’s got to be some connections to that structure from the existing road and pathways.”
The city has assembled both a technical advisory committee including people from the NCC and Parks Canada in addition to a public advisory committee made up of people from the community. Groups such as the City Centre Coalition, cycling groups and the University of Ottawa will all participate on the committee.
Bob Ledrew, a communications officer with the university, says the project has the university’s support. “The reason we are in favour of the bridge is for our students because we see the bridge, as a way to increase students choice in terms of where they want to live and what housing they have access to. It’ll allow them to gain access to campus if they’re living on the other side of the canal,” he says.
Claude Dubois, president of the student federation at the University of Ottawa, says the bridge may do more than that. “It gives better access to on-campus business and stuff like that, which is always a positive.”
Dubois is part of the advisory committee and will be representing the university’s interests. The committee is preparing to make recommendations to the city about how to proceed.
Chi says the city is on part two of a four-part project. While she says no design plans have been made yet, the second stage, planning, is well underway.
So far, the city has allotted $800,000 to the planning phase. Of that amount, not quite half will be spent on an environmental assessment of the site.
The open house will feature panels and a comment form for the public to submit to the advisory committee. It will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 27 between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. at city hall.