City of Ottawa eyes cyclist, pedestrian pathway along Prince of Wales Bridge over Ottawa River

OTTAWA -- The City of Ottawa is taking the next step towards turning the rundown Prince of Wales Bridge into a multi-use pathway for cyclists and pedestrians over the Ottawa River.

Council approved a motion from Mayor Jim Watson and Councillor Jeff Leiper to spend $540,000 for an environmental assessment and design work for an interprovincial multi-use pathway.

"It would be a great alternative for cyclists and pedestrians to use that to go into Gatineau," Watson said during Wednesday's Council meeting, adding Gatineau's mayor is supportive of the plan.

Councillor Theresa Kavanagh told Council that she has been waiting "20 years" for a multi-use pathway on the Prince of Wales Bridge.

"Every time I go underneath it to go to work. It couldn't come soon enough, it's about time," said Kavanagh.

Watson told reporters that the City of Ottawa would need the support of the upper levels of government to see "the dream come true."

"It's a very exciting project to have that kind of a multi-use pathway with pedestrians and cyclists and non-vehicle use of the bridge and it would connect our two great cities very nicely."

The mayor said it was important for Council to approve the funding for the environmental assessment and design work now so the city is prepared to submit an application to the federal and Ontario governments.

"The federal government in their economic statement announced new funding for infrastructure and so we want to be prepared when applications come out for infrastructure programs either at the provincial or federal level to move on this project," said Watson.

In 2019, the city estimated turning the bridge into a pedestrian and cyclist pathway would cost $10 million. Both Watson and Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedenaud-Jobin called for federal funding to turn the bridge into the multi-use pathway.

The City of Ottawa purchased the out of service railway bridge from Canadian Pacific Railway in 2005.

Earlier this year, the City of Gatineau decided to build a new light rail transit system into Ottawa over the Portage Bridge.