NCC report revives debate over proposed east-end interprovincial bridge

Initial consultations on a proposal for an interprovincial bridge in Ottawa’s east end shows the community is mixed on the idea. CTV’s Josh Marano reports.

The long-debated idea of an east-end interprovincial bridge is back in the spotlight after the National Capital Commission (NCC) released results from its first round of public consultations.

The current proposal would connect Ottawa’s Aviation Parkway to Gatineau’s Montée Paiement corridor, crossing the Ottawa River via Kettle Island. However, the findings of initial consultations show residents remain divided, with many citing the potential to reduce heavy truck traffic downtown, while others fear major impacts on neighbourhood roads.

The online survey polled 5,113 people from Ontario and Quebec. According to the NCC, the most significant benefit indicated by respondents was reducing truck traffic by through Ottawa’s downtown core, ranked as a top priority by 38.5% of participants.

Other hoped-for advantages included shorter commute times (17.9%) and improved public transit connections (14.2%).

But concerns were also widespread. Roughly 25.6% of respondents pointed to potential traffic impacts on nearby neighbourhoods as their biggest worry, while 18.9% percent feared construction-related disruptions and 16.9% feared congestion on local roads.

The concept has been discussed for decades but was revived when the federal government included planning for an interprovincial crossing in its 2024 Fall Economic Statement.

Reactions from residents living near the proposed route were mixed. Nearby resident in the Manor Park community Guy Brunet says he’s concerned the bridge could intensify congestion that is already growing.

“They’ve opened a community centre just around the corner here and the traffic on the street has increased,” he says. “Imagine what a bridge would do with all the approaches and everything else.”

Ottawa Councillor Stéphanie Plante, who represents Rideau-Vanier ward, says she is strongly in favour of the project.

“The Prime Minister has been very, very clear that we need to build infrastructure that supports interprovincial trade,” she says. “We know from the pandemic that truckers are essential for distribution of goods for interprovincial trade… and I would tell people that it’s all our responsibility to help increase interprovincial trade.”

She says moving heavy trucks off King Edward Avenue – currently the only interprovincial truck route in North America that cuts directly through a downtown core – is long overdue.

“What I remind people all the time is that the people who deal with the truck traffic on King Edward don’t necessarily have the bandwidth or, the political capital to really fight against it,” Plante adds.

“These are low-income people, they live in social housing, many of them live in our shelters and while it might be expedient politically to kind of leave the situation status quo, in my opinion, it’s not acceptable.”

But not all city councillors support the plan. Beacon Hill-Cyrville councillor Tim Tierney argues the project’s estimated $4-billion price tag should push the federal government toward other options.

“All the traffic that we see in the constant congestion going through downtown on the 417, adding more trucks to that traffic is not going to help anything,” Tierney says. “To address problem one, working with the province, hopefully they will look to go ahead and proceed with some kind of ring road in the south end of the city.”

Tierney says the cost of a new bridge could be even higher than estimated.

“Certainly, somebody has to pay for it at the end of the day, and it was currently pegged at over $4 billion. Now, it’s going to escalate greatly because that was an estimate prior to the study even beginning, and now we see a massive amount of cost increases with tariffs,” Tierney said.

A report released by the NCC last year found that approximately 3,500 trucks cross the Ottawa River each day, with 72% of them using the Macdonald Cartier Bridge.

The NCC says additional consultation rounds are planned for the new year, along with the release of more detailed design proposals, traffic modelling, and environmental studies.

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