Mayoral candidate Doucet announces rival public transportation plan

Mayoral candidate Clive Doucet announced today that, if elected, he will introduce a Regional Rail System to the City of Ottawa.

The three phase plan over four years will connect the communities of Kanata, Barrhaven, Kanata North, Stittsville, Bells Corners, Richmond, Navan, Vars, Merivale, Kinburn, Fitzroy, Limoges, Smith Falls and Gatineau.

For this to work, Doucet is looking into renovating the Prince of Wales Bridge.

“The Prince of Wales Bridge is the key to expanding our transit system. Two decades ago, I led the effort to purchase the bridge and the O-Train line when we first brought the O-Train into the City of Ottawa, so we could immediately extend to Gatineau. Unfortunately politics got in the way,” Doucet said.

For the bridge to be reconnected, Doucet will have to halt the construction of the 65 storey building being built near the Bayview LRT station on Albert Street.

“The recently approved 65 storey building at Bayview blocks the way to reconnect the Prince of Wales Bridge to the rail network. To introduce regional rail and apply with the federal governments plan to reinstall the line, the present plan for this building can not go ahead.

“How many people in Ottawa realize that phase one is cutting off the Prince of Wales Bridge illegally, Hardly anyone. It's very hard to reinstall, I'm not joking when I say you have to not building that 65 storey building, you can not build it,” added Doucet.

If all goes well, the candidate says he can have the bridge up and running with added pedestrian and cyclist pathways within 13 months, and that will only cost the city a couple million dollars.

“It could be about $20-million to $40-million but think about the cost of that infrastructure. It's phenomenal, we are talking billions to build another rail bridge across the river.”

If elected, Doucet believes he can have a complete Regional Rail System in place by 2022. 

As for what Doucet's competitor thinks: