By Ashley Castellan
The Rideau Canal Pedestrian Crossing has been given new life after funding was restored in the 2003 budget.
“I’m absolutely delighted that council has finally decided to go ahead with this project. It is a great step towards bettering our transit system,” says Somerset Ward councillor Elisabeth Arnold.
Designed to connect Centretown with Sandy Hill and the Campus Transitway station, the pedestrian crossing has been marred by setbacks since it was first proposed in 1984.
Late last year, the project was again put on hold as a result of a budget plagued with cuts in services and user-fee increases.
But Arnold and Madeleine Meilleur, councillor for the Rideau-Vanier ward, were determined not to have the project delayed any longer. Together the two councillors worked closely with City staff and the community to gather support for the project.
Even though the City has set aside money in the 2004 budget for the bridge, Arnold says the major issue was finding funding to jumpstart the project in 2003.
Arnold says most of the funding was a matter of reallocation. She notes that $530,000 was transferred from Alta Vista councillor Peter Hume.
“A proposal to build sound barriers in [Hume’s] ward did not materialize, so the money became available to us.”
She expects design and construction of the bridge to cost $4.8 million.
In a press release, Meilleur writes “the bridge will improve access to the Transitway and improve our city’s overall transportation system with minimal cost to the taxpayer.”
Chris Gordon, senior project engineer with the City of Ottawa, believes now is a good time to develop the bridge project.
“The City’s 2020 plan has placed a lot of emphasis on transit, and the bridge will help,” he says.
“The demand for this bridge is there, so there is an increasing incentive on the city to act.”
Gordon says the preliminary design work is complete. The next step is to determine the aesthetics.
“This means deciding on details like what kind of lighting will be on the bridge, what the railings will look like and what colour they will be, and things like that,” he says.
The design phase is expected to be complete by the end of 2003. Gordon and Arnold hope construction will begin in 2004.
Sue Lott, president of the Centretown Community Citizens’ Association, admits she was surprised to hear about the approval of the project.
Regardless, she is confident that the project will create a more integrated downtown community.
“All great cities with waterways have bridges linking the two sides, look at Venice and Amsterdam,” says Lott. “The bridge is important for tourists, for pedestrians, and could make the city more vibrant. Lots of people would like to see it, including merchants and students.”