City unveils three options for pedestrian/bike bridge over Assiniboine

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This article was published 23/05/2018 (2164 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Three designs for a pedestrian and bike bridge over the Assiniboine River — connecting Osborne Village to the downtown — have been released by the City of Winnipeg for public feedback.

The bridge will connect McFadyen Park on the north side of the river to Fort Rouge Park on the south side.

“This is a very important part of our active transportation strategy,” said ward Coun. Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry). “This is part of AT route plan that will connect the Osborne Village transit station through the Village to the bridge and then into the downtown and The Forks.”

The consulting team has developed three options for the proposed river crossing: a girder bridge, a double-curved cable bridge, and a suspension bridge.

“This particular project has been talked about for decades,” Gerbasi said. “It’s one of the most exciting AT things we’re talking about.”

While Gerbasi is excited about the project, a suburban councillor is not.

At Thursday’s council meeting, Coun. Jeff Browaty questioned the need for another bridge crossing over the Assiniboine River in that area.

“If you look at the map, between The Forks and on to the Maryland Street bridge, there’s pretty good coverage for people to get across the river,” Browaty (North Kildonan) told reporters. “Spending another $15-, $20- or who-knows-how-many millions of dollars to build an additional pedestrian bridge in this location is not the next priority in my mind.

“They are lovely looking bridges, but I just question it.”

Browaty said the money would be better spent constructing a movable downtown bike network and connecting it with the suburbs.

“We’ve built a lot of good (cycling) networks to get to the downtown from different quadrants of the city,” he said. “One piece that is missing is that final mile to get from the AT paths to downtown destinations. That would be a better investment.”

The proposed bridge is mid-way between the Midtown (Donald Street) and the Osborne bridges.

Gerbasi dismissed Browaty’s criticisms as pre-election pandering, adding the proposed bridge is integral to linking the downtown bike network to the suburbs. She said neither the Midtown or the Osborne bridges are adequate cycling routes, and no cost has been determined yet for the proposed crossing.

Gerbasi said the city is taking the same planning approach for the project as it’s done for the William R. Clement Parkway extension and the widening of Kenaston Boulevard.

“We do the study now, so that we’re ready when the funding becomes available,” she said.

According to the project website (http://wfp.to/KOI), it is one of four pedestrian/cycling crossings being considered by public works over the next two years, at a cost of $31 million. The others include: Bishop Grandin Greenway over Pembina Highway (2019); Maple Street through-pass of the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline (2020); and a new crossing over the Seine River (2019).

Consulting firm WSP Canada Group was awarded a contract at the end of October 2017 at a cost of $358,351 (following a public tendering process) to design the bridge with a network connection to the Osborne Village transit station.

Now that WSP has developed three bridge designs, city hall wants public feedback on each.

A public workshop is scheduled June 5, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Augustine United Church (444 River Ave.). The format will include a presentation, followed by discussion groups.

Throughout summer 2018, the project team will finalize the recommended functional design of cycling connections and preliminary design of the bridge and parks. These designs will be submitted for city council consideration following completion of the designs.

A detailed design phase will be required ahead of project construction. Funding for detailed design and construction will be contingent on council approval. A final public engagement report will be available on the project site in fall 2018.

Gerbasi said since she’s not running for re-election in October, she won’t be around to make a decision on a bridge design “but I’ve been here to see the project reach this point and I hope that a future council has the foresight to invest in our long-term active transportation plans.”

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca