'This decision allows pedestrian bridge options for the area to be evaluated with further input from the community'
Months after cancelling the construction contract for a new downtown pedestrian bridge in the face of “unforeseen challenges,” city officials have called off the project altogether.
As stated in a post on the city’s website on Friday, plans to build a bridge over the Speed River connecting The Ward with Downtown Guelph have been scrapped. Instead, city officials will look for ways to include pedestrian flow into another nearby project over the river.
Its a shame when projects like these are cancelled. It really shows how "car centric" North America can be in that a simple pedestrian bridge is harder to build and costs more then one designed for cars.
In a time when we should really be shifting to a more "pedestrian focused" design and "livable cities" in general, project like these are in the correct direction.
Nobody profits (maybe shoemakers) when you walk across a bridge. Oil companies, car companies, tire companies, insurance companies, mechanics, they all profit a little if you drive across the bridge.
But when people walk across a pedestrian bridge society profits. Healthier population both physically and mentally. Greater happiness and less stress. Less pollution, pretty much all these benefits put less "burden" on peoples pockets financially, either both directly and indirectly through taxs.
Unfortunately probably all hard to quantify though.