Heritage advocates urge preservation of Alexandra Bridge

The federal government says keeping the aging span as an active transportation route for pedestrians and cyclists isn’t viable.

Published Jul 09, 2024 • Last updated 6 hours ago • 3 minute read

The Alexandra Bridge, built in 1901, is in such poor condition it can’t be saved, the federal government says. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

Keeping the aging Alexandra Bridge as an active transportation route for just pedestrians and cyclists isn’t viable given the poor state of the 123-year-old structure, the federal government says.

Experts and consultants from Public Services and Procurement Canada and the National Capital Commission briefed members of Ottawa’s built heritage committee on Tuesday about their plans for the steel truss bridge that opened in 1901.

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The heritage committee has no say over what happens to the bridge, but that didn’t mean its members — and the federal delegation — didn’t receive an earful from history buffs, active transportation advocates and a “bridge nerd” about why the Alexandra should be saved.

The Alexandra carries 10 per cent of the daily vehicle traffic between Ottawa and Gatineau, according to PSPC, but Leslie Maitland of Heritage Ottawa says it also carries 40 per cent of the interprovincial biking and walking traffic.

“That is a significant number of people who use that bridge for active transportation,” Maitland said.

“There is already a willing clientele for a bridge for active transportation,” she said, pointing to the success of the Chief William Commanda Bridge, the former rail crossing opened last summer by the City of Ottawa for active transportation.

Maitland said she worried the graceful, historic Alexandra Bridge would be replaced with a run-of-the-mill highway bridge.

“Canadians don’t care about bridges in Ottawa,” she said. “I fear the bridge will be torn down and nothing will replace it. Or we’ll get a not very attractive flat top as just the basic minimum.”

John Zvonar, a landscape architect, cited other historic bridges such as the wooden Kinsol Trestle on Vancouver Island and the Kettle Valley rail bridge in the Okanagan Valley as examples of old bridges restored and repurposed for active transportation. (An appreciative deputy-chair Stéphanie Plante dubbed Zvonar a “bridge nerd” after his presentation.)

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But PSPC said it had hired a consultant in 2022 to look at whether the bridge’s life could be extended for another 75 years, even if cars and trucks were taken off it. The answer was “no.”

“The conclusion of the report was that no matter what is put on the bridge, whether it’s vehicles or active transportation only, you come to the same conclusion: that the bridge needs to be replaced,” said Paul Lebrun, chief engineer for PSPC.

Corrosion, mainly from road salt, has taken a toll over the years, while other elements of the bridge have buckled and bent. Numerous refits have kept the bridge safe, but are no longer economical, PSPC says.

The new bridge will be wider and will have separate channels for both bikes and pedestrians. It will incorporate rest points where cyclists and walkers can stop to take in the views, and it will offer improved access to the river shoreline below.

It also promises to “pay careful attention to the history and unique setting of the existing Alexandra Bridge,” and to “preserve and commemorate” its legacy. A heritage impact analysis of the bridge began in 2023 to define its “character defining attributes” and cultural significance so that the new design could incorporate those attributes.

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An early June file photo of the Alexandra Bridge between Ottawa and Gatineau. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

The bridge is in the planning design stage, with design options expected to be presented in October. Demolition of the old bridge is expected to begin in 2028 and a new bridge is to be in place by 2032, according to the PSPC.

The Alexandra Bridge is one of three interprovincial crossings managed by PSPC, with the others being the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge and the Chaudière Crossing.

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