Chief William Commanda Bridge closed for winter

A little more than three months after it first opened for public use, the Chief William Commanda pedestrian bridge over the Ottawa River has been closed for the winter.

The City of Ottawa announced in a memo it was closing the bridge starting Tuesday as snow, ice pellets and freezing rain were starting to fall.

"The Bridge was not designed for winter pedestrian or cycling use," said the memo, co-signed by the city's general managers of public works and recreation.

"Due to the bridge's steel structure and timber plank surface, the City is unable to safely undertake any plowing, salting or grit operations."

When open, the multi-use path fills an Ottawa River crossing gap of about four kilometres between the Portage and Champlain bridges. The former rail bridge connects pathways near the Bayview transit station in Ottawa and the southern tip of Gatineau Park on the Quebec side.

Changing over the bridge, which first opened in 1880 and was bought by the city in 2005, had been officially closed by various barriers for safety reasons.

It cost $23.9 million to rehabilitate it, according to the city, and finishing touches are still being done.

City staff are going to use the bridge's first winter "to assess winter use requirements and feasibility, and to better understand how the structure responds to winter weather," the memo said.

Meanwhile, that city is exploring how it might be able to open the bridge for winter use such as snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

The community-run Kichi Sibi Winter Trail runs past the bridge on the Ottawa side.