The City of Ottawa installed a new multi-use bridge July 23 across the Rideau River between Carleton University and Vincent Massey Park that will continue to undergo construction during the fall. Expansion work on the parallel O-Train Line 2 (Trillium Line) is expected to finish in 2023, which will subsequently open the bridge to pedestrians and cyclists in want of an alternative crossing to busy Bronson Avenue.
The currently unnamed steel bridge, measuring 65 meters in length and coming in at a total cost of $5 million, caters to pedestrians and cyclists as part of Carleton’s Transportation Plan and is an added bonus to the city’s Stage 2 Light Rail Transit project.
Not only will the bridge directly connect Carleton to the 71-acre green space across the river, it will also link surrounding neighbourhoods on opposite sides of the river and increase access to the nearby multi-use pathway that stretches from Mooney’s Bay to Hurdman Station.
Ottawa’s Capital Ward Councillor Shawn Menard said in an email that avoiding crossing the river via traffic-heavy Bronson Avenue and instead using a smaller active transportation bridge will allow for safer and easier connections. He tweeted in July that the city is also looking to extend the Rideau Winter Trail network down to the bridge from Hurdman Station.
Ideally this can open in about 4 months instead of a year. There is some finishing work that will take that long. We are working with @RideauWinter to see about an extension of the trail here! 🎉 https://t.co/5AsTkkhm4E
— Shawn Menard (@ShawnMenard1) July 23, 2022
Members of Carleton’s Healthy Workplace Outdoor Walking group are keen to access the crossing. In an email, group representative Angela Hayward said she’s particularly excited to explore the pathways at Vincent Massey Park via the bridge.
“We are so fortunate to have waterways bordering Carleton,” Hayward said. “Right now, we can walk along the river or canal and soon we will be able to not only cross over the canal at the locks but cross over the river with this new bridge.”
Along with walking groups, cycling clubs are also looking forward to using the bridge. Local cycling enthusiast Hans Moor said in an email there are currently few options for pedestrians and cyclists wanting to travel north from Carleton or Old Ottawa South.
“The new Rideau bridge will cater to students who like to avoid the Bronson Bridge over the Rideau River or the uncomfortably narrow Billings Bridge,” Moor said. “It also allows residents to travel further south safely, via the Rideau River pathway towards Mooney’s Bay and beyond.”
“The new Rideau bridge will cater to students who like to avoid the Bronson Bridge over the Rideau River or the uncomfortably narrow Billings Bridge.”
Construction on the bridge will likely take another 12 months, but Menard said he wants to see it open after just four.
“I’ve asked city staff to see about opening it up in time for this winter season instead of [after] a full year,” Menard said. “They’ve said they have about four months of finishing work on the bridge, so I’m hoping it can open at that time instead of waiting for LRT Stage 2 to open.”
The O-Train line that runs through campus is set to open no sooner than the next calendar year. For now, Carleton students who plan to access the bridge once it opens are admiring how this project encourages active transportation around Ottawa.
“I love that there is a bridge that prioritizes cyclists and pedestrians, as the other bridges don’t prioritize pedestrians, especially the Bank Street [Bridge],” Maryann Enns, a fourth-year journalism student and avid hiker, said.
While the bridge hasn’t drawn much of a crowd since its initial installation, which was recorded as a timelapse published to YouTube, Enns said she thinks it’s an exciting enterprise and looks forward to eventually using the bridge to cross the river.
For Hayward, this connection will serve to improve people’s physical and mental health alike.
“While this bridge connects the park and Carleton, it [also] allows us to disconnect from campus and come back refreshed.”
Featured image by Raneem Abouseta.
