The Macdonald-Cartier Bridge (french: Pont Macdonald-Cartier) is a bridge connecting

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario, to

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's N ...

, Quebec. The bridge is a 618 m long continuous steel box girder bridge and carries six lanes of traffic. It links King Edward Avenue and 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 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. It was named after John A. Macdonald and George-Étienne Cartier, joint premiers of the Province of Canada, and the name is representative of the link between French and English Canada. There are sidewalks on both sides of the bridge intended for use by

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...

s and cyclists. 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 ( 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/Via Rail underpass just south of the Queensway, and the road proceed ...

, and some piers where it would cross the

Rideau River The Rideau River (french: Rivière Rideau) 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 writin ...

remain from the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , 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 Canadi ...

'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 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 The following highways are numbered 417: Canada * Manitoba Provincial Road 417 * Newfoundland and Labrador Route 417 * Ontario Highway 417 Costa Rica * National Route 417 Iceland * Route 417 Japan * Japan National Route 417 United States * ...

. City of Ottawa
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 John A. Macdonald 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 George-Étienne Cartier

See also

References

External links