Dear Sir or Madam,

It beggars belief that, in 2026, nearly 20 years since we last fought against a new bridge at Kettle Island, my neighbours and I, from approximately a dozen communities near the planned route, must fight once more against the unacceptable project to build an interprovincial bridge at Kettle Island. 

This new bridge will primarily benefit commercial trucking companies. It will cause unacceptable environmental (river, air, land, animals, fish and birds) and noise pollution. It will endanger public safety by increasing collisions between commercial semi-trailers with pedestrians and/or other vehicles. It will have a negative impact of the sensitive medical equipment at the Montfort Hospital, hospital patients and residents of their long-term care home, all of which are right next to the Aviation Parkway, where hundreds of semis will run 24/7. There are many, many, many more reasons why building a bridge at Kettle Island should be nixed, once and for all.

Has the Ottawa Riverkeeper been consulted? Have local First Nations been consulted? Have environmental groups been consulted? I doubt that any is supportive of building a bridge at Kettle Island.

With environmental issues being one of our greatest priorities, threatening  human existence, it is absolutely inappropriate to consider the environmentally-destructive project that building a bridge at Kettle Island would be (due to the negative environmental impacts that both the bridge construction and resulting  increased vehicle pollution (noise, air, water, land, birds, fish, animals). 

Building a tunnel, underneath King Edward Avenue, is the ONLY feasible option. Maintaining the existing above-ground commercial trucking corridor on King Edward AND building a second one, via new bridge at Kettle Island, won’t solve the myriad problems on King Edward (e.g. pollution; pedestrian fatalities, traffic congestion, etc.) but, rather, would only spread them to more neighbourhoods. This is completely unacceptable! Again, a tunnel under King Edward is the only feasible solution that remedies the disgraceful situation on King Edward AND does not duplicate it elsewhere.

If a major capital project is to be undertaken to address the ‘movement of commercial goods’  problem, a tunnel underneath King Edward would draw away more than double the number of trucks from downtown neighbourhoods than a new crossing would (33% vs. 8-15%) (ref. 2021 NCC draft Long Term Integrated Interprovincial Crossings Plan for the National Capital Region, pp. 35 and 36).

People and the environment are the most important considerations; not the interests of the commercial trucking industry and its preferred location for a new trucking corridor.

BUILD A TUNNEL UNDER KING EDWARD AVENUE AND NIX THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW BRIDGE AT KETTLE ISLAND (or anywhere else)! 

Please take this feedback under serious consideration. I can assure you that hundreds and hundreds of my neighbours share my views.