Tierney Ring-Road Proposal Just A Pipe Dream

07/02/2025

Former Ottawa councillor Alex Cullen sent along this short note concerning why he is against an Ottawa ring road.

The ring road was suggested by Beacon Hill-Cyrville Councillor Tim Tierney as an alternative to the proposed Kettle Island bridge between Ottawa and Gatineau.

Or could it be that Tierney has gone NIMBY? The councillor just doesn’t want the bridge in his ward’s backyard so he’s fired up this pipedream of a ring road to divert attention from the bridge. The city wouldn’t have jurisdiction over the ring road because such a project is a provincial responsibility so the freeway will go nowhere. Tierney’s proposal is just a political deflection.

Sort of reminds you of the proposed truck tunnel under the Ottawa River as touted by former mayor Jim Watson. He didn’t want an east-end bridge either so he promoted a truck tunnel under the river that, like the ring road, would never happen.

And as time has shown, the truck tunnel wasn’t built or even seriously considered. But it was a way to divert attention from the Kettle Island bridge.

The tunnel was never meant to be built. Neither is the ring road:

Here is Cullen’s note:

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A very bad idea:

1. Doesn’t fix the need for crossings over the Ottawa River;

2. Doesn’t deal with truck traffic crossing Ottawa’s downtown;

3. Will facilitate urban sprawl.