On Nov 15 2013, the
City's Transportation Committee met to review the draft 2013 Transportation
Master Plan which outlines the transportation vision for the City to 2031 and
beyond. One item that is always mentioned in these Transportation Master Plans
is the need for a solution to
the downtown interprovincial truck problem. In
the past that solution has always been listed as a new interprovincial bridge
somewhere in the City's east end. In a surprising move, a motion was
tabled and passed at this meeting indicating the City was prepared to commit to
funding 50% of a 750,000$ feasibility study for a downtown tunnel (to carry trucks) connecting the 417 to the
Macdonald-Cartier bridge contingent on the
Province of Ontario committing to be a
co-funder of the study which is to be led by the City.
This is a welcome
move by the City of Ottawa especially in light of the collapse in June 2013 of
the initiative to build a new bridge across the Ottawa River. While Sustainable Solutions was a
participant in that interprovincial bridge study, it had lobbied during the
past 5 years that an analysis of a
downtown tunnel between the 417 and the existing Macdonald-Cartier bridge should be part of the overall assessment process
related to a potential new interprovincial bridge. This was largely because it
was becomimg increasingly clear that a new east end bridge would at best be only
a partial solution to the downtown truck problem and a solution that required a highly unpopular
shifting of trucks into other residential areas of Ottawa and Gatineau. In
response the Study partners issued a short tunnel memo which discounted a tunnel
option claiming that it was not feasible and did not meet the projected 2031
needs to enable more cars to cross the Ottawa River. Sustainable Solutions (as well as other
community groups) was never satisfied with the level of analysis that was
undertaken as part of that memo.
The Nov 15th motion
of the City of Ottawa indicates that the City is now prepared to do a more
detailed feasibility analysis of this tunnel option.
Further information: Downtown Tunnel Option Detailed Discussion Ottawa Citizen
Report on Nov 15 Transportation Committee meeting:
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