There should indeed be public consultations, as with any decision or analysis of the options. Moreover, those consultations were not held by Public Works and Government Services Canada prior to making a decision.
Motor vehicle traffic represents only 10% of all traffic on the bridge. During closures for maintenance work, for example, there were not many complaints from people on the island or residents on either side of the river.
What's important to people is pedestrian and cyclist traffic. The replacement plans do not indicate how long pedestrians and cyclists will be without that link. There will therefore be significant temporary repercussions on the quality of life of people on both sides of the river.