Prince of Wales rail link should not be written off

Removing the bridge from long-term transit planning doesn’t make sense

Mayor Jim Watson spooked many in the city with his recent declaration that the Prince of Wales bridge will “never” be used for interprovincial commuter rail. It came as a huge surprise because there is no record of a council debate on this issue. Whether Watson was stating an opinion or speaking for the city, the decision is wrong and must be reversed.

The last full debate on this issue was in 2017 when council ordered staff to work with their Gatineau counterparts to “explore potential enhancements to public transit and active mobility connections between Ottawa and Gatineau, including, but not limited to, the future use of the Prince of Wales Bridge …” That same motion asked Watson to “formalize” rapid transit discussions with the Gatineau mayor on the “potential use of the Prince of Wales Bridge for rapid transit and active mobility …”

In June this year, both the transportation committee and council discussed this motion as part of the transportation master plan review process and approved it.

So, how the city went from discussions on the potential use of Prince of Wales for rapid transit to never using it, is a mystery. We need to know what factors informed this decision — if indeed a decision has been made.

It is clear by now that Gatineau’s reliance on buses to haul commuters to and from Ottawa is unsustainable, especially in this era of climate change. The unsightly situation on Wellington Street, with long lineups of STO buses belching smoke and poisoning the environment right in front of Parliament, is intolerable. A rail link to Gatineau has always been seen as a key part of long-range transit planning in the capital, and Prince of Wales has been central to this debate. To remove it from contention so arbitrarily doesn’t make sense.

It all started last week, of course, when Watson, with Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin by his side, said staff recommended against using Prince of Wales for a Gatineau rail link because passenger traffic would overwhelm Bayview station.

“Our staff came back and said that even though years ago this (bridge) was bought by a previous council with the intention of running the O-Train, they recognize it would be far too congested to have so many people drop off at one of the busiest intersections in our LRT system” Watson said. Pedneaud-Jobin agreed. “The studies that have been conducted in the last few months are very clear: The Prince of Wales Bridge could not be used for the connection between Ottawa and Gatineau. The best option for us, for the quality of service for our citizens, is the Portage Bridge.”

Pedneaud-Jobin was referring to a Gatineau study recommending a commuter rail link to Ottawa through either Lyon or Parliament stations. The new plan ditched Prince of Wales in favour of Portage because of Bayview station’s lack of capacity. But how Gatineau would put trains on Portage and link with the Confederation line at Lyon or Parliament stations remains a mystery. And if Bayview lacks capacity, how better would Lyon or Parliament handle it? One would think a reconfigured Bayview would be the better option.

For Ottawa however, Prince of Wales must remain part of its transportation planning. It is true that a Gatineau link was never part of the Trillium line extension and the city had no reason to sink money into building extra capacity at Bayview. As well, Stage

3 is all about the extension to Barrhaven and Kanata/ Stittsville.

We know that a Gatineau link will not happen now. But why say never? This council is capable of anything, and the danger with “never” is that it could then remove Prince of Wales as a future rail corridor from its transportation master plan. And without that protection, the bridge could be exposed to uses that may render it unusable for future generations.

Prince of Wales may not be needed today as a transit link to Gatineau, but everything should be done to ensure it remains an integral part of future transportation planning.

Mohammed Adam is an Ottawa writer.