City of Ottawa looking to further block access to Prince of Wales bridge

The City of Ottawa is considering making it more difficult for cyclists and pedestrians to trespass onto an abandoned but popular rail bridge over the Ottawa River by installing large gates.

The councillor for the area says he's strongly opposed to that idea, but is encouraged the move no longer seems as much of a sure thing as it was a few days ago.

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People who go on the 136-year-old Prince of Wales bridge that once took trains over the Ottawa River are, by the letter of the law, trespassing on City of Ottawa property — but that doesn't stop many cyclists from getting around the fences and taking it as a shortcut across the river, nor pedestrians who often bring snacks and take pictures of the scenery.

Kitchissippi ward Coun. Jeff Leiper tweeted on Friday the city would be installing giant barriers to stop people from getting onto the bridge.

However, the city said in an email Tuesday morning that a final decision hasn't been made.

"A gate option has been proposed as an option to further secure the site. Its appropriateness and its cost are currently under review," said John Moser, the city's general manager of planning, infrastructure and economic development.

"A schedule is under review as the City of Ottawa has not made a final determination on any further security requirements."

Reached in a record store in the New York City neighbourhood of Greenwich Village, a vacationing Leiper said that looks like good news.

"That is different than what I had been told but that is a very encouraging step," he said.

Cost could approach $300,000

Leiper said he found out about the plan in April, when a note with technical information about the proposal to install four large gates on the various entrances to the bridge on the mainland and Lemieux Island went out to various city departments.

He said he and Somerset ward Coun. Catherine McKenney were both against the idea.

"To the best of my knowledge there's no real history of incidents on this bridge, and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to close it off seems like a real waste of resources that are currently in very scarce supply," he said Tuesday.

In June, Leiper said the city ran their concerns past its lawyers, who told the city to go ahead with the project. That was echoed on Friday by senior engineers who told him the cost could be up to $300,000.

Leiper said he emailed city manager Steve Kanellakos over the weekend to again state his objections to the gate idea and point out the negative reaction he'd been seeing, which now includes a petition.

"The access to the bridge is clearly marked as trespassing, we do put up fences that people do have to get around, that is probably enough to protect us from liability until we can make a more permanent change," he said, citing New York City's rail line-turned-park the High Line, which he had visited half an hour earlier, as one idea.

Federal government involvement?

The City of Ottawa bought the bridge in 2006, including it in transportation plans as a potential extension of the O-Train or multi-use path to Gatineau.

"It is the City's responsibility to manage public safety in that corridor, including access and trespassing on the bridge," Moser said in the email.

"Actions have been taken to prevent trespassing, including signage, chains and fencing in the past."

While the bridge belongs to the city, Leiper said it's his understanding the federal government was asking for the bridge to be permanently blocked.

As an interprovincial rail crossing, the bridge falls under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Transportation Authority.

A spokesperson for the authority said in an email that the issue of rail safety falls under the mandate of Transport Canada.

When asked about any role Transport Canada may have played in changing access to the bridge, a spokesperson said Tuesday afternoon an answer would be coming Wednesday.

Hull-Aylmer MP Greg Fergus, whose riding covers the Gatineau side of the bridge, said Saturday the request didn't come from him, and he thinks current security is good enough to let people know they're going onto the bridge at their own risk.

The office of Ottawa Centre MP Catherine McKenna, the MP on the other side of the bridge, said the request didn't come from them either.