Prince of Wales Bridge

One of the hot topics of conversation right now is the Prince of Wales Bridge closure. As many residents have seen, on Tuesday four new chain link gates were installed to prevent access to the bridge, and at least one of those has already been damaged. I’d like to take this opportunity to address how we got to this point, and where we go from here.

The PoW bridge is an historic rail bridge that was purchased in 2006 in anticipation of eventually bringing public transit across the river between Gatineau and Ottawa. For years, the City has maintained a fence and signage to dissuade trespassing across it, but there are likely hundreds of crossings by residents every week as people use the bridge as a convenient connection, a recreation opportunity and to enjoy the views. Just to be clear, this activity has never been sanctioned by the City. People habitually cut the existing fence to gain access.

Last year, Transport Canada which has jurisdiction over the bridge ordered the City to permanently bar access. City staff began to work on a plan for gates that would have cost at least a couple of hundred thousands of dollars. Both Councillor McKenney and I, when informed of the plan, objected to that. Over the course of the late summer, after the plan became public and an outcry ensued, City staff scaled back the plan to the four chain link fences that were installed yesterday.

A large number of residents have been clear that they consider the permanent closure to be a lost opportunity to enhance the bridge for pedestrian and cycling use. I agree with them that, properly renovated, the link between the two cycling networks on either side of the river would be of huge value, that the bridge could become well-known as an opportunity for relaxation and recreation, and that it would eventually become an important destination in the city.

But, I have also accepted that this is very unlikely to happen.

In 2013 when the Transportation Master Plan was being drawn up, the City outlined its priorities for cycling and pedestrian connections. In a contentious decision, the PoW bridge was listed as the first priority, with $1.5 million set aside for its eventual conversion. That decision had a caveat: it would only remain the top priority if Gatineau and the feds were willing to participate financially. If it became clear that the funds were not forthcoming, then the priority would shift to the second choice, the 5^th/Clegg bridge.

In 2015, I was approached by staff who indicated that they were no longer waiting – after active discussions – for the partners to come on board. The matching funding was not forthcoming. The cost of renovating the structure and converting it to a cycling and pedestrian connection was pegged at $10.5 million, and the earmarked funds were proposed to shift in the 2016 budget to 5^th/Clegg. The federal election had seen our new MP elected, and there was clear momentum behind that connection. I did not object. There are a limited number of projects the City can undertake, and with partner funding forthcoming, the shift made and continues to make sense. I am very excited to see the 5^th/Clegg bridge completed in the relatively near future.

Without funding to convert the bridge, and under orders from the feds to seal it off, I have accepted the decision to use the four chain-link gates as a necessary step. I am not a lawyer, but it strikes me as intuitively true that without some measures in place to dissuade trespassing, the City would be negligent in its duty to protect residents.

Ideally, we’d find a way to keep the bridge open. Both Councillor McKenney and I would like to better understand the structural and other renovations that are required and that make up that $10.5 million price tag. But, and I want to be clear, I accept that opening the bridge to the public will not be a $1 million job. It will require structural updating. I suspect there will be a requirement to add lighting. Creating a safe path across it will be expensive. I don’t have any reason to believe that the level of investment will be achieved through crowdsourcing or sponsorship. Opening a route that invites thousands of people a year to traverse it won’t be accomplished by throwing down some boards and putting up a guard rail.

That is not money that the City has. And, I will not criticize the City for that. It is making slow but steady progress on opening up connections such as the new Adawe bridge and the forthcoming 5^th/Clegg project. There are only so many multi-million dollar projects it can undertake at once.

Complicating the situation is that, as noted above, the long-term plan for this bridge is to connect the Gatineau and Ottawa transit systems. My best understanding is that this will not be a $40 million job as some assert. There is significant work that needs to be done to bring the bridge back up to snuff. The funding, likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars, could well take a few years to pull together even if there is strong support at various different levels of government. When that connection is made, I and Councillor McKenney will almost certainly insist on pedestrian and cycling connectivity that exploits the vistas and bridge’s central location. But, it is likely several years away. When it does occur, that will help us deal with the clutter of STO buses on our downtown streets, as well as help alleviate congestion on Island Park Drive. I absolutely consider it a legitimate and necessary longer-term goal.

So, in the meantime, the bridge will remain closed. I was pleased that the City at least scaled back its plans to the current chain link fence. Yes, some people will continue to bypass or scale the fence, ignoring the signage. Again, I am not a lawyer, but I believe that the current solution will protect the City while some determined residents will continue to trespass on the bridge.

However, if the gate continues to be cut, and with no viable path forward in the near-term to a temporary conversion to cycling/pedestrian use or full conversion to transit rail, then the City will almost certainly install the much more expensive and impassable gates that it planned originally. I would be very disappointed at that outcome. That is money that could be used for any number of ward and City priorities to make a real difference to safety.

Councillor McKenney and I continue to be interested in getting more precise information about what the cycling/pedestrian conversion costs would be. And, I am ready to provide whatever help or support I can to the eventual full conversion to rail. But, in the meantime, I am disappointed that residents have deliberately damaged the gate. If and when staff propose to put in place a much more expensive and impassable system of barriers, it will be very difficult for me to object.

[Photo: Padraic Ryan]