Everyone in Ottawa knows that there’s a need for a new interprovincial crossing in the national capital. Thousands of semi trucks travel through the heart of the downtown every day, putting pedestrians at risk and creating an environment that is not conducive to a modern capital city. And this is not a new problem.

Going as far back as the Gréber plan from the 1940s, the National Capital Commission has studied options for a new interprovincial bridge over and over again. And for decades, every study ever done has said that a new bridge on the east side of Ottawa should be built over Kettle Island, which would connect Highway 50 at Montée Paiement in Gatineau to a corridor leading to the 417 in Ottawa.

The most recent study from 2020, which builds on the previous study from 2009, concludes that the Kettle Island corridor would be the least costly of the three proposed routes, would attract the most truck traffic and public transit, offer the most manageable environmental effects and provide the biggest boost in terms of economic development. Instead of making this decision, the National Capital Commission continues to drag the process out, leaving in limbo thousands of concerned residents in Orléans and other communities in Ottawa. These ongoing processes have been time-consuming, expensive and generate enormous anxiety for residents.

It’s time for the NCC to get it done. Kettle or kill it.