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An east end community association doesn’t want an interprovincial bridge crossing at Kettle Island.
They say it’s not the obvious choice to connect Ontario and Quebec and have created a coalition against a proposed interprovincial crossing at the island.
“We deplore the repeated attempts by several suburban east-end politicians to politicize the debate before the consultants have even completed their study,” said John Forsey, president of the Manor Park Community Association. “Their attempts to characterize the Kettle Island Corridor as ‘the obvious choice’ are unconscionable.”
Three east end councillors are touting Kettle Island as the only choice to build the bridge.
They say it’s a natural because it’s close to major trucking routes and will take commercial traffic off roads sooner than forcing it further east.
OPPOSE BRIDGE
The Cardinal Glen and Rockcliffe Mews community groups along with residents, private institutions and politicians have joined forces to oppose a new bridge in the Kettle Island Corridor linking Montee Paiement in Gatineau with the Aviation Parkway in Ottawa.
“While we are fully in favour of finding a solution to removing the heavy truck traffic that has seriously degraded portions of the downtown core, we strongly oppose any attempt to repeat the mistakes of the 1960s, only 5 km further east,” said Don Lishman, a member of the Manor Park Community Association Interprovincial Bridge Committee.
There has been equally strong opposition to a crossing at Petrie Island further east because of its environmental impact on a sensitive wetland and new city beach and because it would serve mostly to redirect heavy truck traffic from Quebec through Orleans as a shortcut to Hwy. 417.
Ottawa Sun