Work officially starts on Chief William Commanda Bridge pathway
Work to turn an old rail bridge into a multi-use pathway between Ottawa and Gatineau is officially underway.
A groundbreaking ceremony Monday morning for construction on the Chief William Commanda Bridge marked the official start of the project.
The $22.6-million project will convert the long unused rail bridge over the Ottawa River into an interprovincial link for walkers, runners, cyclists, rollerbladers and cross-country skiers.
The bridge just west of downtown, built in 1880 as a railway link, hasn’t been in service since 2001. The city bought it from Canadian Pacific Railway in 2005.
Mayor Jim Watson said the project will incorporate the bridge into Ottawa’s urban trail system, which he called one of the best found anywhere.
“When the multi-use pathway opens next fall, it’s sure to become a popular active transportation corridor, linking a network of pathways and public transit on both sides of the river, and providing residents with more environmentally-friendly commuting options.”
Construction on the Chief William Commanda Bridge multi-use pathway is officially underway. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa)
The project includes rehabilitation work on the bridge’s structural components and a new timber deck on top of the existing rail track.
There will be a steel cable railing system, LED lighting and benches for rest areas. The work also includes linking the bridge to Ottawa’s Trillium Pathway and the Voyageurs’ Pathway in Gatineau.
The bridge is scheduled to open next fall, but some work on the piers and a pathway connecting it to Lemieux Island is scheduled to last until 2024.
Lemieux Island, a popular off-leash dog park, has been closed to the public since September for construction.
“Today marks an important milestone in making sure that residents in both Ottawa and Gatineau have access to high quality active transportation networks,” Treasury Board president Mona Fortier said in a news release.
Formerly called the Prince of Wales bridge, the city renamed the bridge after Chief William Commanda in July. Command was chief of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation from 1951 to 1970.
The city is funding $14 million of the project, with the federal government covering the remaining $8.6 million.
The city is allocating two per cent of the pathway construction budget to commission Algonquin art for the site.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.