A connector between Powwow grounds, and Carlton street plaza
Idea:
Yes I know this is a cliché for what citizens want, they've been asking for the same thing for years. But I would like to highlight the community building aspect of such a project. Sitansisk FN, and the city could both use this multi-modal connection to bridge the gap in the cumminities and allow for more integration in activities. It would be for both communities to use. The bridge pillars may be historical, or aesthetic, but like the Bill Thorpe we could adapt this bridge for the benefit of the community.
Staff Feedback:
Thank you for your idea! The City has received many questions about the old Carleton Street Bridge Piers and the ability to reuse them to build a new pedestrian connection from Carlton Street to Devonshire Drive. This would create another connection across the river that could improve active transportation in the City and create another potential urban trail loop system.
In 2018, the City hired an Engineering Design firm to develop a concept for building a bridge at this location. As part of the study they identified that the existing piers could not support a new bridge without being rebuilt and they also developed two approaches to advance this idea.
- The first path was to rebuild the existing piers and then place the bridge sections on the existing rebuilt piers.
- The second path was to construct new piers immediately down river of them and then construct the bridge sections on the new piers.
Costs to do either option where estimated at about the same, the major cost for the project was building and installing the approximate 700m of bridge and deck between the 104th Regiment of Foot Bridge and the existing bridge abutment on Devonshire Drive. In 2018, the cost to construct a pedestrian bridge at this location was approximately $45 Million. There are currently no plans to advance this project.
In 2019 and 2020, the City partnered with the Provincial and Federal Governments to rehabilitate the deck of the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge. This rehabilitation cost approximately $4 Million. Below is the link to a CBC story on the Carleton Street pedestrian bridge project.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/walking-bridge-fredericton-city-1.4664960
