A new pedestrian/cycling bridge

Idea:

Create a north/south connector over the river for cyclists and pedestrians near where the current old bridge piers stand.

Staff Feedback:

Thanks for your idea! We've had many requests over the years to construct a 2nd dedicated walking bridge at this location using the former piers. A bridge engineering consultant was retained in 2017 and ultimately estimated that the cost to construct a pedestrian bridge here would be in the order of $45 million dollars, similar to the cost of simply building a new dedicated pedestrian bridge. The Bridge Piers are over 100 years old and have not been maintained for almost 40 years. Given the very high price tag for this type of upgrade, there are no current plans to move this project forward.

An alternative plan that the City will be exploring in the years ahead will be to evaluate the feasibility of widening the sidewalk on the Westmorland Street bridge to better accommodate walkers and cyclists. This would also likely require a significant capital investment (into the millions of dollars), but we feel it would be a major enhancement to further promote active transportation crossing the River and, if feasible, may be a candidate for funding from all levels of government.