election 2025 - taking action

The Alexandra Bridge Coalition is calling on federal party leaders and candidates across Canada to commit to a full independent assessment of restoration options for the bridge before irreversible steps are taken. We are urging the next federal government to pause the plans for bridge demolition and replacement with a generic modern structure. No credible conservation engineering assessment has been made public. No transparent alternatives have been offered. Canadians deserve better. READ THE FULL MEDIA RELEASE HERE. 

A joint letter to federal party leaders from the Coalition and the Fédération Histoire Québec urges them to "take a public stand against Public Services & Procurement Canada's (PSPC) plan to demolish this national symbol" in favour of its preservation. READ THE LETTER HERE.

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ALEXANDRA BRIDGE INCLUDED ON 2024 NATIONAL TRUST ENDANGERED PLACES LIST

"The federal government seems poised to demolish the monumental Alexandra Bridge (EPL 2021), an engineering marvel recognized by the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering, which has connected Gatineau, Quebec and Ottawa, Ontario below Parliament Hill for 125 years. This is indicative of the limited regard generally for Canada’s historic bridges. While a small number of historic bridges like the High Level Bridge (1913) in Edmonton and the Quebec Bridge (EPL 2015) in Québec City see upgrades to extend their lives to 2100, most are prematurely declared obsolete." states the National Trust of Canada in its 2024 Endangered Places List. 

CLICK HERE for the entire list on the National Trust for Canada website.

Save the Alexandra Bridge! 

NEW: Sign the ENGLISH language petition HERE.

Sign the FRENCH language petitions HERE and HERE.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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PAST ELECTION ACTIONS

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A sampling of the news coverage devoted to the Alexandra Bridge follows: