Fight continues over planned Kettle Island bridge

A proposed interprovincial bridgeat Kettle Islandis creeping closer to reality, but residentsof Ottawa's east end are still divided over the proposal Monday.

About 50 people attended a special meeting at Ottawa City HallMonday to argue forand against the bridge at a special meeting of the city's transportation committee.

The purpose of the meeting was to receive a presentation from the National Capital Commission about a study of the Ottawa River crossing linking Ontario and Quebec. The city must endorse the proposed site before the next phase of the study can go ahead.

Jane Brammer,of agroup calledCommunity Action for Reasonable Analyses and Decisions, said the NCC's preferred location does not serve the community well.

"It's spreading the truck traffic and hazardous goods around to other residential communities. It's not improving or solving the problem."

Judy and Don Lishman, who were scheduled to speak at Monday's meeting, also disagreed with the findings.The retired couplehas lived in a house near the proposed crossing site for 25 years.

Judy Lishman said the new route won't get truck traffic off King Edward Avenue as many Ottawa residents hoped it would.

"It doesn't enhance transit, it doesn't improve the quality of life of anybody that lives here. It doesn't provide any commercial or industrial opportunities because there's no land available for that," said Lishman. "So what does it do? Why is anybody pushing it?"

Don Lishman, a retired engineer, is advocating a route at Canotekbusiness parkin Orleans, close to the Robert O. Pickard wastewater treatment plant. He argued a bridge there would not have such a negative impact on local communities because the site is made up of open and unused space.

Enough studies already: bridge supporters

On the other hand,groups representing neighbourhoods east of Kettle Island said there have been enough studies and it's time to forge ahead.

"It's the best thing for taxpayers," said Sean Crossan, past president of the Cardinal Creek Community Association, which represents residents along the Trim Road corridor.

Roger Smiley, president of Blackburn Community Association, agreed.

He added that putting the bridge anywhere east of the Highway 417/174 split, such as near Canotek business park, will cause huge traffic congestion in the east.

"We do not want any crossing that's going to make our commutes, morning and afternoon, worse than they already are."

The NCC, which manages federal lands and buildings in Ottawa-Gatineau, reconfirmed earlier in January that Kettle Island is the preferred site for the new Ottawa River crossing,based on the first phase of its environmental assessment study.

The announcementfollowed public consultations and input from a technical committee that included representatives from different levels of government.

The agency needs the support of local municipalities and provincial governments to go ahead with the second phase of the study, which will only look at the Kettle Island corridor. The site was recommended in September by ROCHE-NCE, the engineering consulting firm that conducted the environmental assessment study. It said the route would be the cheapest, divert the most traffic and have the smallest environmental impact among 10 possible routes.

Coucillors weigh in

Anumber ofOttawa city councillorsalso support the proposed site.

Rainer Bloess, councillor of Innes Ward, agreed that some people are fighting hard against the bridge.

"They're ignoring the facts. They're ignoring that Kettle Island is cheaper by $30 million. They're ignoring that this is the third study that's confirmed Kettle Island," he said Monday. "It's time to make a decision here. It's time to get the politics out of this and it's time to move ahead."

Earlier, Coun. Alex Cullen, chair of the city's transit committee, said there aren't a lot of other options.

"If we say no to Kettle Island, then where?" he asked. "And then you're back into the same discussion about impact on communities, on environment, on health."

The study by engineering consultants ROCHE-NCE was conducted between January 2007 and October, with funding from the NCC and the Ontario and Quebec governments.