Could the O-Train one day travel across the Chief William Commanda Bridge?

Ottawa’s transportation master plan considers the Chief William Commanda Bridge as a future LRT corridor. CTV’s Dylan Dyson reports.

The City of Ottawa’s long-range roadmap to move people around the national capital region includes the possibility of running the O-Train across the Chief William Commanda Bridge to Gatineau.

The public works and infrastructure committee will vote next week on the transportation master plan’s “capital infrastructure plan,” which identifies the transit, road and active transportation investments needed to be built over the next 20 years.

The report says that with Ottawa’s population expected to grow to 1.4 million by 2046, the city is expected to see demand for an additional 1.2 million daily trips, including more than 620,000 daily trips in vehicles.

• These are Ottawa’s road and transit priority projects for the next 20 years

The plan outlines approximately $3.9 billion in capital projects, including a new bus Transitway along Baseline Road, the Cumberland Transitway and Kanata North Transitway, bus lanes on Carling Avenue, Blair Road and St. Laurent Boulevard, and road projects like the Airport Parkway widening and the extension of the new Greenbank Road.

Staff also outline the “Ultimate Transit Network” that includes additional long-range transit projects that will be needed beyond 2046 to “support the city’s future growth and intensification.”

One of the projects identified is the Chief William Commanda Bridge as a “potential future interprovincial rail link.” Staff say the O-Train extension has been shifted to the “beyond 2046 horizon given the expected investment in the STO Gatineau Tramway.”

The city notes the 2013 Transportation Master Plan also identified the project to use the bridge as a future interprovincial rail line.

The City of Ottawa purchased the former Prince of Wales Bridge from Canadian Pacific Railway in 2005 for $11 million. In August 2023, the city opened the bridge, newly renamed the Chief William Commanda Bridge, as a multi-use pathway. The $22 million project to refurbish the bridge over the Ottawa River included new timber deck on top of the existing rail track ties, new lighting and park benches.

Gatineau’s STO has identified building a transit link into downtown Ottawa over the Portage Bridge. A 2019 study conducted by WSP Global concluded linking the STO Tram with the O-Train via Prince of Wales Bridge was not a recommended as the main link.

Another project expected to be needed beyond 2046 is the double tracking and the electrification of O-Train Line 2, the new north-south line that runs between Bayview Station and Limebank Station.

The Priority Transit Network part of the transportation master plan includes Stage 3 O-Train extensions to Barrhaven and Kanata-Stittsville, which would cost $8.3 billion.

Here is a look at the road and transit priority projects for the next 20 years, according to the transportation master plan. The “priority network” are projects that should be prioritized for implementation and “are expected to be delivered by 2046,” staff say.

Transit Network

Priority Transit Network

• O-Train Line 1 extension to Barrhaven Town Centre
• O-Train Line 3 extension to Kanata and Stittsville
• Baseline Transitway (Algonquin College to Billings Bridge)
• Cumberland Transitway (Blair Road to Chapel Hill Station)
• Cumberland Transitway (Chapel Hill Station to Esprit Drive)
• South Transitway (Longfields Drive to Greenbank Road)
• Southwest Transitway (Barrhaven Centre Station to Kilbirnie Station)
• South Transitway (Riverview Station to Limebank Station)
• Kanata North Transitway (Eagleson-March Station to Terry Fox Drive)
• Heron-Walkley Transitway (Billings Bridge Station to Russell Road)
• Carling Avenue bus lanes between Lincoln Fields Station to Sherwood Drive
• Blair Road bus lanes from Blair Station to Cumberland Transitway
• St. Laurent Boulevard bus lanes from Innes Road to St. Laurent Boulevard
• Montreal Road bus lanes from St. Laurent Boulevard to Blair Road
• Merivale Road bus lanes from Woodfield Drive to Baseline Road
• Conroy Road bus lanes from Leitrim Road to Bank Street and Rosebella Avenue to Walkley Road

Road Projects

Priority Road Network (Phase 1)

• Stittsville Main Street extension from Maple Grove Road to Derreen Avenue
• Greenbank Road realignment from Cambrian Road to Kilbirnie Drive
• Robert Grant Avenue extension between Palladium Drive to Hazeldean Road)
• Prince of Wales Drive widening between Deakin Street to Amberwood Crescent
• Brian Coburn Boulevard widening between Navan Road and Mer-Bleue Road
• Earl Armstrong Road extension from Bowesville Station to Bank Street
• Green Bank Road realignment from Kilbirnie Drive to Barnsdale Road
• Airport Parkway widening between Brookfield Road and Hunt Club Road
• A new road to serve development near Hurdman Station

The Phase 1 road projects also include 11 road urbanizations and eight mainstreet improvement projects.

For a full list of transit, road and active transportation projects, click here.