If you live in Ottawa, by now you may have heard about the new 5+ Million dollar bridge being erected over the Rideau Canal at the end of Somerset. The bridge is already under construction, but rumour has it, the price tag will be more than expected.
It may be too late now to stop the construction, but for posterity, I thought I would do my own analysis.
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The nearest bridge to the new footbridge heading north along the Rideau is the Laurier bridge. As you can see from the image (click to enlarge), the distance one way from the location of the Rideau footbridge to the Laurier bridge is 0.4 Miles, which makes a round trip at it’s longest point 0.8 Miles.
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The nearest bridge heading south from the location of the footbridge is the Hawthorne Ave. bridge which is 0.6 Miles one way. This means the worst case scenario for walking is 1.2 miles.
Lowell Green and his listeners are pretty livid about this bridge and its’ cost. And it seems that there is now a push to make the bridge a “toll” bridge with some kind of turnstiles and tokens or monthly passes. Not a bad idea. Considering the cost may run as high as $10 Million dollars by the time it is complete, at least this would help with the overrun. When the total cost of the bridge is recuperated, the proceeds could then be given to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. When all those who petitioned to reduce their walking and have this bridge built get older, many are going to have wished they had chosen the excercise.