The Union Bridge crossing between Ottawa and Gatineau is about to see a major transformation.

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) announced on June 11 that it has awarded a construction-management contract worth nearly $25 million to Montreal’s Construction demathieu & bard (CDB) Inc. for the widening of the Hull Causeway and the Union Bridge rehabilitation on the Chaudière Crossing.

The crossing is the oldest in the National Capital Region, having opened in the 1820s. It links Ottawa’s Booth Street with Eddy Street in Hull.

Under normal circumstances, approximately 18,000 vehicles use the Chaudière Crossing daily. That volume amounts to about 9 percent of the total traffic on the capital’s interprovincial bridges. The bridge is also used by about 10 percent of all pedestrians and cyclists crossing the river daily.

The COVID-19 pandemic has cut traffic on the crossing by approximately one third.

The widening of the Hull Causeway will provide dedicated continuous raised cyclist lanes and a wider sidewalk across the entire Chaudière Crossing as part of a complete street concept that will be in harmony with the Zibi development project and the remainder of the crossing. The raised cyclist lanes and the integration of a new lighting system will improve cyclist safety.

The Union Bridge is a single-span steel truss with an exposed concrete deck and has been in service for over 100 years. While the bridge has undergone rehabilitation a number of times, several steel and concrete components are at the end of their useful lives and therefore require repair or replacement.

The work will take place from July 2021 to September 2022.

"The Union Bridge rehabilitation and the Hull Causeway widening on the Chaudière Crossing will provide long–lasting economic benefits to the communities on each side of the Ottawa River and more broadly to the region as a whole,” said Steven MacKinnon, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement.

The construction contract includes an Indigenous Benefits Plan that will provide socio-economic benefits to local Indigenous communities.