The National Capital Commission is taking another look at integrating Ottawa and Gatineau's transit systems via the Prince of Wales Bridge, which once carried train traffic between the two cities.
The bridge, located between Parkdale Avenue and the War Museum, is within sight of Ottawa's existing O-Train and Transitway.
The tracks that currently exist on the bridge cross into Quebec and go right to Terrasse de la Chaudi�re, a government complex in Gatineau.
"You could run a connection from Ottawa's light rail system as it is today, and also our tunnel-based light rail system of the future, to move people across the river by train instead of requiring hundreds of buses," said David Jeans of Transport Canada.
He says it makes no sense to have a bridge in the city sitting idle, especially when there's debate over building a new bridge in Ottawa's east end.
"The idea was that even with the O-Train you could still run freight trains at night, so we could actually replace some of those night time trucks on King Edward Avenue by ferrying trucks across the river on this bridge," said Jeans.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Norman Fetterley
