The Vimy Memorial Bridge (previously the Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge) is a bridge in

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 Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Completed in 2014, it crosses 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 ...

, connecting

Strandherd Drive Strandherd Drive is a major road serving the community of Barrhaven in southwest Ottawa. Realignment and extension Up until the mid-1990s, Strandherd Drive was an east-west coursing road extending from Moodie Drive to Woodroffe Avenue. With the ...

Barrhaven Barrhaven is a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located about southwest of the city's downtown core. Prior to amalgamation with Ottawa in 2001, Barrhaven was part of the City of Nepean. Its population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 103, ...

and Earl Armstrong Road in Riverside South. The bridge was the 2015 winner of the

Gustav Lindenthal Gustav Lindenthal (May 21, 1850 – July 31, 1935) was a civil engineer who designed the Queensboro and Hell Gate bridges in New York City, among other bridges. Lindenthal's work was greatly affected by his pursuit for perfection and his lov ...

Medal. It is named after the

Battle of Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions o ...

, as suggested by two

Royal Canadian Legion The Royal Canadian Legion is a non-profit Canadian ex-service organization (veterans' organization) founded in 1925. Membership includes people who have served as military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provincial and municipal police, Royal ...

s in Ottawa. Strandherd-Armstrong_Bridge,_July_2014

History

The idea for a bridge in this location was first brought up in 1993 as a road bridge. The location was later revisited as the location for a light rail crossing for the

O-Train The O-Train is a light metro transit system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The O-Train system has two lines, the electrically-operated Confederation Line (Line 1) and the diesel-operated Trillium Line (Line 2). Since May 20 ...

, but that extension plan was cancelled. In 2010, the city, provincial, and national governments invested equal amounts totalling $48 million in building the bridge. The original contractor hired, ConCreate USL, went into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

when the project was about 60% complete and the bonding company, GCNA hired a new contractor, formed by former employees of Concreate, now known as Horseshoe Hill Construction, to complete its bonded work. The project was initially expected to be completed in 2012."Strandherd bridge moved into place this weekend"
''

Ottawa Sun The ''Ottawa Sun'' is a daily newspaper in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is published by Sun Media. It began publication in 1983 as the ''Ottawa Sunday Herald'', until it was acquired by (then) Toronto Sun Publishing Corporation in 1988. In Apri ...

'', July 13, 2013. However, due to the contractor going bankrupt and the city's bonding company refusing to accelerate work, the completion date was delayed. The bridge was then due to be open in September 2014 and was opened earlier than expected on 12 July 2014.

Features

The bridge has three vehicle lanes, a dedicated

bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, often on certain days and times, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway ...

, and a

bike lane Bike lanes (US) or cycle lanes (UK) are types of bikeways (cycleways) with lanes on the roadway for cyclists only. In the United Kingdom, an on-road cycle-lane can be firmly restricted to cycles (marked with a solid white line, entry by motor v ...

in each direction. Pedestrian walkways are located on the outside of the bridge on both the north and south side.

Public transit

OC Transpo Routes 74 and 99, which use the bridge's exclusive bus lanes, are a part of the Ottawa bus rapid transit system known as the

Transitway Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

. Route 99 operates in both directions from

Hurdman station Hurdman is a station on Ottawa's O-Train Confederation Line, and bus rapid transit (BRT) system, transitway. Location The station is located just southeast of Hurdman Bridge where Highway 417 crosses the Rideau River. It is also located nea ...

to Barrhaven Centre station at peak hours via the southeastern transitway, serves Riverside South via Spratt Road and connects to the

O-Train Line 2 The Trillium Line (french: Ligne Trillium), also called O-Train Line 2 (french: Ligne 2 de l'O-Train), is a diesel light rail transit (DLRT) service in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The line has been closed since May 2020 f ...

Greenboro station Greenboro is a transitway stop and future O-Train Trillium Line (Line 2) station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located at Bank Street and Johnston Road at the north end of the South Keys shopping complex. The station has a 678-space paid park ...

, which serves as its northeastern terminus in off-peak hours. Route 74, a high frequency rapid transit route, serves Riverview station in the southbound direction and continues northward to

Tunney's Pasture station Tunney's Pasture is the western O-Train light rail terminal train station in Ottawa, Ontario. Location It is located at the Tunney's Pasture government office complex, on Scott Street at Holland Avenue. History When originally opened in 1983, ...

. The new bridge's exclusive bus lanes have improved transit service in Barrhaven and Riverside South.

References

{{Reflist Bridges in Ottawa Road bridges in Ontario Bridges completed in 2014 2014 establishments in Ontario