The Macdonald-Cartier Bridge () is a bridge connecting

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, to

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. The bridge is a 618 m (2,028 ft) long continuous steel box girder bridge and carries six lanes of traffic. It links King Edward Avenue and

Sussex Drive Sussex Drive (), also known as Ottawa Regional Road93, is an arterial road in Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada. It is one of the city's main ceremonial and institutional routes. Travelling roughly parallel to the Ottawa River, Sussex Drive ...

in Ottawa with Autoroute 5 in Quebec. It is the easternmost bridge linking Ottawa to Gatineau, running just east of the

Alexandra Bridge The Royal Alexandra Interprovincial Bridge (), also known as the Alexandra Bridge () or Interprovincial Bridge (), is a steel truss cantilever bridge spanning the Ottawa River between Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. In addition to carryin ...

. The bridge was built from 1963 to 1965 by the federal government and the governments of the two provinces. It is owned and maintained by

Public Works and Government Services Canada Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC; ),''Public Services and Procurement Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Public Works and Government Services (). formerly Public Works ...

. It was named after

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (10 or 11January 18156June 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 until his death in 1891. He was the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, and had a political ...

and

George-Étienne Cartier Sir George-Étienne Cartier, 1st Baronet, (pronounced ; September 6, 1814May 20, 1873) was a Canadians, Canadian statesman and Fathers of Confederation, Father of Confederation. The English spelling of the name—George, instead of Georges, th ...

joint premiers of the Province of Canada Joint premiers of the Province of Canada were the prime ministers of the Province of Canada, from the 1841 unification of Upper Canada and Lower Canada until Confederation in 1867. Following the abortive Rebellions of 1837, Lord Durham was appoi ...

, and the name is representative of the link between French and English Canada. There are

sidewalks A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English, South African English), or footpath (Irish English, Indian English, Australian English, New Zealand English) is a path along the side of a road. Usually constructed of concrete ...

on both sides of the bridge intended for use by

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, by wheelchair or with other mobility aids. Streets and roads often have a designated footpath for pedestrian traffic, called the '' sidewalk'' in North American English, the ''pavement'' in British En ...

s and

cyclists Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world for pur ...

. Immediately after the bridge on the Gatineau side, the road becomes part of the Autoroute where cyclists and pedestrians are prohibited. However, they can then use paths leading to Laurier Street. The Ottawa side was to connect with

Vanier Parkway Riverside Drive (List of numbered routes in Ottawa, Ottawa Road #19) is a major road in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that follows along the eastern bank of the Rideau River. Its northern terminus is at the Transitway (Ottawa), Transitway/Via Rail unde ...

, and some piers where it would cross the

Rideau River The Rideau River (, ) is a river in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The river flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at the Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. Its length is . As explained in a writing by Samuel de Champl ...

remain from the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

's Sussex Street Subdivision, but this was cancelled because the route would have taken much of New Edinburgh Park. Instead, King Edward Avenue was widened up to the

one-way pair A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities. Descriptio ...

of St. Patrick Street and Murray Street to the St. Patrick Street Bridge over the Rideau River, which connects with the north end of Vanier Parkway. This provides a four-lane connection between the bridge and Highway 417.

City of Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of the Ottawa–Gatinea ...

King Edward Avenue Renewal Construction Phasing
, accessed September 2007] Construction is now underway to realign the entrance ramps on the Ontario side, removing any possibility of further extensions.

References

External links

Transport Canada profile of the bridge
{{Gatineau Roads Bridges in Gatineau Bridges in Ottawa Bridges completed in 1965 Bridges over the Ottawa River Road bridges in Ontario Road bridges in Quebec 1965 establishments in Quebec 1965 establishments in Ontario

See also

References

External links