NCC backs off plans for proposed bridge

The National Capital Commission has announced it will not proceed with an environmental assessment of a proposed interprovincial bridge in Ottawa's east end.

The commission had recommended a new bridge across the Ottawa River at Kettle Island, but some rallied against the plan, saying it could create traffic on the Aviation Parkway and slow down ambulances.

"The whole process was requiring consensus from day one and it's really impossible to go ahead without the partners," said Russell Mills, chair of the NCC, at a meeting of the commission's board of directors Thursday.

Problem will get worse and worse, says NCC head

The NCC had hoped a new bridge would reduce future truck traffic and congestion on King Edward Avenue and downtown Ottawa caused by transport vehicles crossing from Quebec to Ontario via the centrally located MacDonald-Cartier Bridge.

Mills said he is disappointed, particularly for people who live in the area, "cause there's no solution for them, their problem will continue, and it will get worse, and worse and worse without some new provincial crossing."

Earlier this month the province refused to fund the project also expressing concerns about the location of the bridge.