Save the Alexandra Bridge!
NEW: Sign the ENGLISH language petition HERE.
Sign the FRENCH language petitions HERE and HERE.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The Alexandra Bridge Coalition
Presentation to federal Standing Committee on Expanding the Federal Jurisdiction for the Operational Security of the Parliamentary Precinct to include sections of Wellington and Sparks Streets
The Alexandra Bridge Coalition was invited to make a presentation to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs who are considering the question of Expanding the Federal Jurisdiction for the Operational Security of the Parliamentary Precinct. We thank our spokesperson, Claude Royer, who brought the important part the Alexandra Bridge plays in the Confederation Boulevard loop to the attention of the committee.
CLICK HERE to see the Coalition's PowerPoint presentation.
--------------------------------------------------------
PUBLIC NOTICE
The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) hosted Virtual Information Sessions on the Alexandra Bridge Replacement Project on April 12 & 13, 2022 on the environmental, heritage and cultural impacts of the proposed bridge replacement strategy. The opportunity to submit comments followed.
Read the Alexandra Bridge Coalition comments HERE.
Click on our Key Messages below to learn more.
---------------------------------------------------------
The Coalition
The Alexandra Bridge Coalition (ABC), formed to protect the future of the historic Alexandra Bridge, is an inter-provincial, multi-disciplinary Coalition made up of advocates from the heritage, transportation and environmental sectors. Read our Media Release (April 30, 2021) HERE.
Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and the National Capital Commission (NCC) have taken the position that the bridge has to be demolished and replaced, despite the fact that completion of required impact studies have not yet been done, or made public, which would allow for a transparent, evidence-based decision. The NCC released a survey asking for public input on the bridge replacement. Its replacement was not presented as an option, but as a 'fait accompli'.
In January, 2022, the Alexandra Bridge Coalition wrote to Tobi Nussbaum, CEO of the NCC, and the Hon. Filomena Tassi, Minister of PSPC, asking that the project to demolish the Alexandra Bridge be halted pending the completion and publication of the required environmental, socioeconomic, life cycle and cultural impact assessments, including the rehabilitation of the bridge for active transportation, especially in light of the Government of Canada's own commitment to renew heritage sites and cultural landscapes, and its policies on climate change and green infrastructure. An independent peer review of these options was also requested. Read the LETTER HERE.
The ABC proposes that the Bridge be retained for its national built-heritage value and significance, and repurposed for green infrastructure transportation.
Read the ABC's KEY MESSAGES HERE.
Read the ABC's LIST OF SIGNATORIES HERE.
Watch The Alexandra Bridge: Its Construction, Its Significance, Its Future, presented by Heritage Ottawa, and learn about the bridge's construction from 1898 to 1901, the rationale for the cantilevered design, its conversion from rail to vehicular use, as well as the significant role that bridges have played in our collective consciousness and examples of community-driven efforts to save threatened bridges, both within Canada and abroad.
POST ELECTION 2021 ACTION
The Alexandra Bridge Coalition calls upon Canadians to contact the Prime Minister and the new Minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada, Filomena Tassi, to DEFEND OUR HERITAGE AND PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT and exercise their authority to protect the Alexandra Bridge, an iconic landmark in the Nation's Capital, from demolition.
Read the ABC's letter to the Prime Minister HERE.
Read the ABC's letter to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada HERE.
FEDERAL ELECTIONS 2021
The Alexandra Bridge Coalition asked local candidates from the major political parties in Ottawa-Gatineau to make public their position on the future of the Alexandra Bridge. Read the CANDIDATES' RESPONSES HERE.
Read our Election Media Release (September 15, 2021) HERE.
A sampling of the news coverage devoted to the Alexandra Bridge follows.
-
NCC approves Alexandra Bridge replacement planning principlesCLICK HERE to hear Alan Neil of CBC Radio’s All In A Day interview with Alexandra Bridge Coalition co-spokesperson Jordan Ferraro.
CBC NEWS Ottawa, By Natalia Goodwin
The capital...
-
Le pont Alexandra remplacé d’ici 2032Écoutez l’entrevue de Claude Royer, le porte-parole de la Coalition pour le Pont Alexandra, à l’émission Sur le vif de Radio-Canada.
RADIO CANADA
le 23 juin 2021
La...
-
How to Get People Across the Ottawa River — and Save our Heritage BridgesOttawa Citizen | Opinion, By George Bruce Levine
The future of the 120-year-old Alexandra Bridge across the Ottawa River has been the subject of several scenarios, none of which presents a...
-
Le pont qui pèteLe Droit | Chroniques, Denis Gratton
Aujourd’hui, on pourrait toujours nommer le pont Alexandra le « pont qui pète ». Non pas pour le bruit lorsqu’on y roule, mais bien parce que ce pont...
-
Heritage, environmental advocates form group to save Alexandra BridgeCBC OTTAWA
A group made up of heritage, transportation and environmental advocates has formed to oppose plans to demolish and rebuild the 120-year-old Alexandra Bridge between Ottawa and...
-
Des voix s’élèvent pour la préservation du pont AlexandraRadio-Canada
Pendant que le gouvernement fédéral suggère la démolition et le remplacement du pont Alexandra, des voix s’élèvent pour le préserver et donner à la structure une vocation...
-
Fiducie nationale du Canada ajoute le pont Alexandra sur sa liste des lieux menacésLa Fiducie nationale du Canada
La Liste des lieux menacés de la Fiducie nationale braque les projecteurs de la nation sur les lieux du patrimoine en péril, que ce soit ces lieux de culte,...
-
Media Release: New Coalition Forms to Save Alexandra BridgeThe Alexandra Bridge Coalition wants a Green Future for the Alexandra Bridge!The Federal Government proposes to demolish the Alexandra Bridge.
The Alexandra Bridge Coalition proposes...
-
National Trust for Canada Adds Alexandra Bridge to Endangered Places List 2021National Trust for Canada
The National Trust Endangered Places List shines a national spotlight on heritage places at risk, from places of faith to Indigenous...
-
The Alexandra or Interprovincial Bridge: A Brief HistoryHERITAGE OTTAWA, by David Jeanes
An interprovincial bridge at Nepean Point was first proposed by J.R. Booth when his Canada Atlantic Railway reached Rideau Street in 1896. However, it was...