MPCA Bridge Committee letter to the NCC
Ottawa, January 20, 2009
Dear Marie Lemay and NCC Board Members:
As you have heard, there is huge public opposition to a bridge at Kettle Island. Carrying Kettle Island and option 6 or 7 forward to phase 2 of the study will not stop the public outcry against Kettle Island. Manor Park and the Kettle Island corridor communities on both sides of the river have never advocated carrying 2 options forward to phase 2 for the following reasons. The purpose of phase 2, according to the Terms of Reference of the study, is to look at alternative design concepts within a selected corridor, not to compare corridors. To take 2 options forward for detailed study would double the cost and extend the duration of the study. Meanwhile, the delay in selecting the corridor would extend the period of hardship for the residents of the Kettle Island corridor. We are currently experiencing a great deal of stress at the possibility of a truck route, with all its toxic impacts, passing beside our homes. With this threat hanging over us, we can’t even sell and move because our property values have dropped and who would choose to buy a house next to a possible truck route?
Everyone agrees that heavy trucks must be removed from King Edward/Rideau because of the impacts on the neighbourhood. Why would transferring those impacts to another neighbourhood be acceptable? The longer Kettle Island stays on the table the longer it will take to solve the King Edward problem because the opponents of Kettle Island are determined to fight this selection through the courts.
The best solution for the residents on both sides of the river is to have a bridge built as soon as possible in the right location. For Ontario, the right location is east of Green’s Creek and far enough west of Orleans so as not to impact any residents there i.e. in nobody’s backyard. There is an empty corridor in this location belonging to the NCC.
On the Quebec side there are 3 possible routes that would connect to the Ontario corridor. The first is through undeveloped land near Lac Beauchamp, the second is along Lorrain Boulevard where the houses would be expropriated, the third connects to Gatineau Airport. This analysis, to select the Quebec corridor, could be done in a preliminary stage of the phase 2 study which would be a much less expensive and time consuming exercise than carrying 2 options forward for the duration of the study.
This proposal is a win/win solution for everyone.
1. A bridge will be built sooner, solving the problem of trucks on King Edward.
2. Quebec commuters will have another crossing, easing the present congestion.
3. No Ontario neighbourhood would be impacted by a truck route or the threat of one.
4. Quebec would have the opportunity to select a corridor that avoids neighbourhoods.
5. A bridge in this location would be good for transit on both sides of the river.
6. This location is downstream of the Gatineau water intake.(Kettle Island is 600m upstream)
7. The Montfort Hospital would be protected.
8. National institutions would be unaffected.
9. Kettle Island itself would remain an undisturbed nature preserve.
10. As no island would be impacted, there would be no aboriginal objections.
11. Gatineau would have a good connection for development in the east end.
12. East end commuters would have a convenient bridge without having to travel downtown.
13. There would be no closure of Queensway access ramps at St. Laurent Shopping Centre.
14. It is the shortest and least expensive route.
15. It moves the trucks outside of the city core on both sides of the river.
16. It could provide a controlled access route from Autoroute 50 to Highway 174.
17. It preseves the NCC scenic Aviation Parkway.
There is no downside in this proposal. I speak for all the Kettle Island corridor communities on both sides of the river when I request that the NCC reject the recommendation of a bridge at Kettle Island and instead proceed to phase 2 with a corridor in Ontario in the vicinity of the option referred to as Lower Duck and in Quebec that further study be done to choose the best route to align with the selected corridor in Ontario.
The NCC, through Mr. Reg MacDonald, its chief engineer at the time the Aviation Parkway was built, promised the residents of Manor Park, at a public meeting, that The Aviation Parkway would never become a truck route. We are counting on you, the current Board of Directors of the NCC, to uphold this promise.
Respectfully,
Judy Lishman
Chair, Bridge Committee
Manor Park Community Association
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