Internal report explores returning Ottawa-Gatineau tram to Alexandra Bridge

The Alexandra Bridge viewed from Ottawa on Wednesday, April 15. Photo by JULIE OLIVER /POSTMEDIA

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When the Alexandra Bridge opened in 1901, traffic across the longest cantilevered span in Canada included everything from horse-drawn buggies to electric trams.

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More than a century later, and long after the tracks were ripped up, the government is studying how it can ensure the bridge’s replacement could once again carry trams over the Ottawa River.

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A consultant report obtained by the Ottawa Citizen through an access-to-information request examines how the design of the new Alexandra Bridge can ensure trams remain an option down the line.

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The Tramway Conversion Guidelines report, dated May 27, 2025 but not released to the public, is an “assessment of the potential implications of what the bridge may need to accommodate, and so that the design does not have insurmountable challenges which would preclude a tram operating across the bridge in the future.”

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Under the oversight of a joint team from Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and the National Capital Commission (NCC), the Alexandra Bridge replacement project has been in the works since 2019.

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From the start, the goal of ensuring the design could one day support mass public transit via a tram or light rail system has been baked into the project.

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Although ministerial briefing materials and project updates have contained glancing references to trams and transit, the conversion guidelines report provides a deeper glimpse into efforts behind closed doors to ensure the needs of a future rail system are factored into the plans.

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A recent aerial rendering of the Alexandra Bridge replacement project design. Photo by NCC

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“A project commitment for the Alexandra Bridge Replacement is that it will be futureproofed for conversion of the proposed roadway to combined roadway with a tramway at a later stage,” the report said.

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“This means the bridge will need to be designed in a way that accounts for the space-proofing of rail systems, as well as the loading of safe performance of the vehicles being used.”

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The report is largely technical but includes some nuggets that describe how a resurrected tram system over the historic crossing between Ottawa and Gatineau could look.

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Make sure to heat the overhead cables, report recommends

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According to the report, the system would be designed to accommodate single cars that could transport 7,500 people per hour in one direction with trams running every two and a half minutes.

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The report lays out a few different options for how the trams could be powered, including one that would resemble Ottawa’s current light rail system with poles and overhead wires, and others that would power the electric trams from below.

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If the choice is to go overhead, the report pointed to a few different methods for handling winter weather, such as heated wires to prevent ice build-up — an issue that has long plagued Ottawa’s Line 1.

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A car drives on the Alexandra Bridge between Ottawa and Gatineau on Wednesday. Photo by JULIE OLIVER /POSTMEDIA

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But to avoid the “unsightliness and undesirability” of installing an overhead system across the bridge and throughout the downtown core, trams could be equipped with onboard batteries to power them through segments of the route, the report suggested.