Liberals pledge to revive Prince of Wales bridge as LRT link
A re-elected Liberal government will help refurbish the Prince of Wales bridge and create a light rail link between Ottawa and Gatineau, five local candidates pledged Wednesday.
"By working closely with our government partners, we hope to one day turn it into an extension of Ottawa's LRT," said Yasir Naqvi, the Liberal candidate for Ottawa-Centre.
Those government partners include the City of Ottawa, the City of Gatineau, the province of Quebec and the federal government. Any such project could involve Public Services and Procurement Canada, Transport Canada and the National Capital Commission.
"You can imagine the opportunities, and you can imagine the complexities in getting the project done," said Naqvi, as he stood with the other candidates in front of the disused rail bridge. "We're standing here as a team saying, 'We want to make it happen and we are going to be a willing partner.'"
Better integration
Also on hand Wednesday morning were Bob Chiarelli (Ottawa–WestNepean), Nathalie Des Rosiers (Ottawa–Vanier), John Fraser (Ottawa South) and Stephanie Maghnam (Kanata–Carleton).
"I know there are a tremendous number of transit advocates on the Quebec side who want to see better integration," said Chiarelli. "We've got to get people moving."
The bridge presents an interesting option for carrying passengers across the Ottawa River by rail because it connects to Bayview Station, the future junction of Ottawa's north-south Trillium Line and east-west Confederation Line, which is set to open in November.
While the city of Ottawa purchased the rail bridge from CP Rail in 2005, it has yet to formalize a plan to refurbish it. A proposal was in place to create a pedestrian and cycling link on the bridge, but money for the project was redirected in 2015 to accelerate the construction of a pedestrian link over the Rideau Canal at Fifth Avenue.
In 2016, the city installed fences to keep trespassers off the bridge, but without much success. The city is currently appealing a ruling by the Canadian Transportation Agency to replace a section of rail line leading to the bridge whichwas buried during nearby LRT construction.
No dollar amount
The Liberal candidates stopped short of providing any financial figures for the project, including what share the province might bear.
"Part of that conversation is first to determine exactly what's going to be the cost and what needs to be done to stabilize the bridge and make it part of the LRT network," Naqvi said when asked how much it would cost to transform the bridge.
Naqvi added that if the City of Ottawa and the City of Gatineau decided they only wanted to refurbish the bridge as a pedestrian and cycling link, his party, if re-elected, would still get behind the plan.
