A planned footbridge over the O-Train track to Little Italy is moving a step closer after public consultations end.
City officials are working with groups in the community to conduct consultations at multiple events. A public consultation will be at the Plant Pool Recreation Centre on Sept. 29, says Robert Grimwood, senior project manager for sustainable transportation.
Feedback can be given online on the project web page, available until Oct. 8. Consultations were also held in May and June.
At a Civic Hospital Neighbourhood Association meeting, Shawn Doyle, from Dillon Consulting Ltd., said the Hickory Street-Adeline Street crossing will mostly serve the local community. The company will be reporting to the city’s transportation committee in December.
Kitchissippi Coun. Katherine Hobbs says the bridge is being built because of the planned condominiums in the area.
On the east side of the O-Train track there are two confirmed developments on Preston Street. The west side has four confirmed developments, including the SoHo developments.
The footbridge is one part of a community design plan focusing on accessibility for incoming residents. Design plan consultations for the footbridge are slated to be finalized within six months, other plans can take up to three years, Hobbs says.
“We’re taking quick looks at areas of intensification. We’re rushing it because we’re being beaten to the punch. The developers are building faster than we can handle,” she says.
The concern is that as sites are sold to developers and buildings are erected, it will negate any design plans that haven’t been finalized and “decisions are going to be made for you,” Hobbs says.
Lori Mellor, executive director of the Preston Street BIA, says city officials approached area merchants to gauge concerns. “The bridge is a positive way to connect us to the community on the other side of the tracks."
But the Hickory Street crossing is not eligible for the one-per-cent public art project, Mellor says. The city has a policy requiring one per cent construction budgets be used for an artistic installation, such as the marble obelisks along Preston Street.
Eric Darwin, president of the Dalhousie Community Association, says city officials suggested a standard bridge design or a more costly, design-focused bridge. The association decided to prioritize functionality over design because of the short bridge length, and expected high volume of pedestrian and cyclist traffic.
Cyclists and pedestrians were glued to the curb before, following paths designed for cars, Darwin says. “The Hickory overpass is an example of designing for pedestrians first and is a good direction for the city to be moving in.”
Community members at the CHNA meeting responded positively, but there were concerns about snow clearing on the bridge.
Darwin says he is concerned that the bridge may not be wide enough for sidewalk plows to go through. On a pedestrian bridge nearby, snow is plowed from one end to another with a “mound at the entrance.”
At least two developers are funding the footbridge, Mastercraft Starwood Group and Domicile Developments Inc., Grimwood says. Additional contributions are expected as others complete the approval process.
The bridge can accommodate any future widening of the O-Train trench to make twin tracks, Grimwood says. A study was done for the light rail transit system several years ago, and if the city decides to continue with the light rail project the Hickory bridge needs to accommodate an extra track.