Some east-end Ottawa residents are raising concerns as technical testing gets underway for a proposed sixth interprovincial bridge linking Ottawa and Gatineau. For the first time in years, crews are carrying out technical work along the Aviation Parkway as planning advances for the Eastern Bridge Project. The proposed crossing has long been debated as a possible way to reduce truck traffic through downtown Ottawa, improve transit connections and ease congestion on existing routes. In theory, a new bridge could also make some commutes from Gatineau easier. The government has allocated $221 million for the preconstruction phase for the project. But residents in communities near the proposed corridor question whether the project would solve those transportation problems or create new ones. “We’re looking for a 1950 solution to a 2026 problem,” said Natalie Belovic, president of the Manor Park Community Association. Belovic says residents still have many unanswered questions about how the bridge would connect to existing roads and how truck and vehicle traffic would move through the area. “The government doesn’t seem to have a fully developed plan as to what this corridor is going to look like, what the links to the roadways are going to be and how the truck and car traffic is going to be funneling onto the Ontario side and also on the Gatineau side,” she said. Belovic also says residents were not informed that the latest testing was underway. “We have heard nothing. Nobody has heard anything about the testing,” she said. Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) says it is working with the National Capital Commission on technical studies and site investigations to support the planning and design phase of the Eastern Bridge Project. The work includes traffic, transportation and environmental studies. Former Ottawa councillor Mathieu Fleury is also questioning whether the project adequately addresses Ottawa’s transportation needs. “There appears to be currently a big gap of who’s leading and how’s it going to affect Ottawa, how’s it going to resolve any of the Ottawa transportation issues,” Fleury said. He said he is concerned a new crossing could benefit Gatineau while creating new traffic pressures in Ottawa communities farther east. “It feels like now it solves Gatineau issues and pushing problems into Ottawa, particularly for communities that are at that corridor and east of that corridor,” he said. Belovic agrees truck traffic through downtown Ottawa is a problem, but questions whether another bridge is the best solution. “This seems to be a short-term solution, or a non-solution to some questions that have not yet been answered,” she said. PSPC says the results of the work now underway will help inform the federal impact assessment process, as well as the project’s planning and design. Information submitted through the federal impact assessment process will be made public.
