Discussions

has anyone taken the survey put out the The City of Brandon regarding the 8th st bridge? It is on their FB page, and there is a discussion going on as well, so if you have concerns or questions this is a great time to join the discussion. I personally feel, a pedestrian only bridge is not the answer, our city is growing, we need this bridge to be accessible for vehicular traffic as well.

daisychain said "has anyone taken the survey put out the The City of Brandon regarding the 8th st bridge? It is on their FB page, and there is a discussion going on as well, so if you have concerns or questions this is a great time to join the discussion. I personally feel, a pedestrian only bridge is not the answer, our city is growing, we need this bridge to be accessible for vehicular traffic as well. "

i think most that live , work or own property are of the opinion that a pedestrian only bridge is a major waste of money that will benefit a few that in fair weather like to take a stroll or bike ride to the riverbank , let them have access to first street and 18 th street bridges at a much lower cost or spend the needed money to provide the required traffic bridge

it seems the powers that be may actually want input. I did the survey, it seems as it designed by engineers, but if they are doing a pedestrian bridge, we can have a say in the direction they go. I still feel it needs to be accessible to vehicles as well, I can't see spending that kind of money if it is not.

it that the estimated cost for this project?  
 
I'd say the city cannot afford it! All that cash for basically a fancy walking bridge? BS! If no vehicle can travel this crossing then forget it! We're not made of money!

The bridge was donated to the city by CP for a very good reason. Because in earlier years people & likely kids died crossing before it was built.  
 
Given a choice of walking 1 mile west or east & back again people/kids will dig under , cut or jump any fences put there...  
 
Eventually someone will have to die before the city/CP reconsider  
that a 1 million pedestrian bridge is cheaper then the $100 million lawsuit for neglect of a fence causing death ...regardless of trespassing issues.  
 
Cars can easily drive in comfort the extra mile but people are like water & will find the path of least resistance...always.  
 
It was built there for a reason ... can they not be smart enough to learn from the past.  
 
oh yeah they are politicians they aren't smart enough.

I retract that last line Its not fair as they are trying to get input. I let my emotions write that . Sorry to the politicians who are making an effort and looking for input via meetings, surveys etc -they are trying to find a solution to this expensive & difficult decision I should respect those efforts.

very good letter to editor in brandon sun today , speaks with knowlege of the bridge and area

I highly doubt that number you are quoting!  
 
How many years has the 8th. street bridge been closed now? How many hundreds of pedestrians have crossed over the tracks? I haven't heard of anyone being hurt/injured while crossing the tracks. Am I missing something?  
 
I have however heard of the mayhem that has occurred on the bridge. Drinking and fighting! That one young man got severely beaten while walking OVER the 8th. street bridge! Any time you have a area that doesn't have vehicular traffic you are going to have problems. I even prefer to walk where there is lots of traffic. There is safety around when cars are driving by, especially if the police are patrolling!

i can remember a wooden foot path from assiniboine ave up to the then station and the stairway up to pacific , i do not remember anyone being injured while using this path . people have been crossing the tracks on foot at various places since the tracks were put in and i doubt very much that a pedestrian bridge will stop them. regarding safety i would feel much safer walking accross the tracks rather than the bridge as it is now.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BuildABridge

Johnbisonbear said "I highly doubt that number you are quoting!     How many years has the 8th. street bridge been closed now? How many hundreds of pedestrians have crossed over the tracks? I haven't heard of anyone being hurt/injured while crossing the tracks. Am I missing something?     I have however heard of the mayhem that has occurred on the bridge. Drinking and fighting! That one young man got severely beaten while walking OVER the 8th. street bridge! Any time you have a area that doesn't have vehicular traffic you are going to have problems. I even prefer to walk where there is lots of traffic. There is safety around when cars are driving by, especially if the police are patrolling! "

Do you know what goes into the construction of a bridge? How much would you expect to pay to have a house built? Now, compare that to, say, a concrete house? Now does a $1 million price tag seem to steep for a bridge?

I can''t believe there is no consideration to putting a real bridge back there.  
 
I absolutely hate taking 18th Street now, with the traffic, and use to detour and take the 8th street bridge to get to the north hill.  
 
And there is no way i would use a pedestrian bridge to walk across in that area of town. Have heard too many stories of people being assaulted. Maybe city councel should hang out there after hours on the weekend and see how safe they would feel.  
 
I just don''t get it. There has got to be a better solution.  
 
Edited by redwine1966, 2017-05-10 16:20:40

PrimeConvoy said "    Johnbisonbear said "I highly doubt that number you are quoting!     How many years has the 8th. street bridge been closed now? How many hundreds of pedestrians have crossed over the tracks? I haven't heard of anyone being hurt/injured while crossing the tracks. Am I missing something?     I have however heard of the mayhem that has occurred on the bridge. Drinking and fighting! That one young man got severely beaten while walking OVER the 8th. street bridge! Any time you have a area that doesn't have vehicular traffic you are going to have problems. I even prefer to walk where there is lots of traffic. There is safety around when cars are driving by, especially if the police are patrolling! " Do you know what goes into the construction of a bridge? How much would you expect to pay to have a house built? Now, compare that to, say, a concrete house? Now does a $1 million price tag seem to steep for a bridge? "

Perhaps you should take a minute and read the whole thread?  
 
I stated that I heard the estimated cost of the bridge to be 5 or 6 million.

I heard from a very reliable source that one major consideration for not creating a vehicular bridge would be physical logistics. With the new height and slope requirements, the bridge would have to go as far as Rosser at the south end and into the MacKenzie Seeds lot at the North end (see 1st street bridge). The cost difference between a pedestrian bridge and a vehicle bridge is just too much to even consider installing a new vehicle bridge.

On the Historic Sites of Manitoba History Society website, there is an excellent article on the history of the 8th Street Bridge. Frequently knowing our history helps us in making decisions for the future.  
 
http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/eighthstreetbridge.shtml

PrimeConvoy said "I heard from a very reliable source that one major consideration for not creating a vehicular bridge would be physical logistics. With the new height and slope requirements, the bridge would have to go as far as Rosser at the south end and into the MacKenzie Seeds lot at the North end (see 1st street bridge). The cost difference between a pedestrian bridge and a vehicle bridge is just too much to even consider installing a new vehicle bridge. "

would be the biggest reason for not having a vehicular bridge. And I mentioned that in one of the other threads. While a pedestrian bridge would still have to deal with height requirements, they don't have to deal with slope requirements for vehicles and can be made more compact. The pedestrian ramps can be spiral or straight with switchbacks. And have it start right along Assiniboine Ave instead of Stickney Ave.  
 
A vehicular bridge will never be built in the current 8th St location due to the current railway bridge requirements and slope requirements. The various design plans that were made public a few years ago were all criticised for various reasons, including buying up peoples homes and businesses. And those people whose homes were at risk were very vocal on here against those plans.

PrimeConvoy said "I heard from a very reliable source that one major consideration for not creating a vehicular bridge would be physical logistics. With the new height and slope requirements, the bridge would have to go as far as Rosser at the south end and into the MacKenzie Seeds lot at the North end (see 1st street bridge). The cost difference between a pedestrian bridge and a vehicle bridge is just too much to even consider installing a new vehicle bridge. "

have a hard time believing that the city would have to demolish an entire city block in order to have a vehicular bridge built in the same spot. Just saying.

How else do you put in a vehicle bridge that will have to conform to today's regulations in the same footprint as the current one? Homes and businesses will have to be removed. Do you really think having that very steep slope down to Pacific is a good thing? You can't rebuild the bridge back to 1930's or 1960's standards. It has to be 2017/future standards.  
 
Has anyone who is insisting that there must be a vehicular bridge done any studying or research into the current design regulations that are required to put one in without removing homes or businesses? The new bridge will also have to conform to lane width standards, sidewalk width standards. So that means it will also have to be wider.  
 
The new 1st St bridges should be a clue into how high the bridge must be to go over the railway yard and still have an acceptable vehicle grade.

about the options that were presented.  
 
http://www.ebrandon.ca/messagethread.aspx?message_id=610746&cat_id=3

Trevor B said "How else do you put in a vehicle bridge that will have to conform to today's regulations in the same footprint as the current one? Homes and businesses will have to be removed. Do you really think having that very steep slope down to Pacific is a good thing? You can't rebuild the bridge back to 1930's or 1960's standards. It has to be 2017/future standards.     Has anyone who is insisting that there must be a vehicular bridge done any studying or research into the current design regulations that are required to put one in without removing homes or businesses? The new bridge will also have to conform to lane width standards, sidewalk width standards. So that means it will also have to be wider.     The new 1st St bridges should be a clue into how high the bridge must be to go over the railway yard and still have an acceptable vehicle grade. "

bridge was plenty high enough for the tracks underneath. Any new bridge if need be could have been extended north.  
 
How many years did this bridge work for us?

Johnbisonbear said "    Trevor B said "How else do you put in a vehicle bridge that will have to conform to today's regulations in the same footprint as the current one? Homes and businesses will have to be removed. Do you really think having that very steep slope down to Pacific is a good thing? You can't rebuild the bridge back to 1930's or 1960's standards. It has to be 2017/future standards.     Has anyone who is insisting that there must be a vehicular bridge done any studying or research into the current design regulations that are required to put one in without removing homes or businesses? The new bridge will also have to conform to lane width standards, sidewalk width standards. So that means it will also have to be wider.     The new 1st St bridges should be a clue into how high the bridge must be to go over the railway yard and still have an acceptable vehicle grade. " bridge was plenty high enough for the tracks underneath. Any new bridge if need be could have been extended north.     How many years did this bridge work for us? "

not just north but south as well!!

a pedestrian bridge have to be a certain height above the tracks?

A pedestrian bridge would also have to meet clearances above the tracks. But the slope at either end of the bridge can be more extreme for a pedestrian bridge than for a vehicle bridge. Switchbacks can also be put in place for a pedestrian bridge.

ultraguy said "A pedestrian bridge would also have to meet clearances above the tracks. But the slope at either end of the bridge can be more extreme for a pedestrian bridge than for a vehicle bridge. Switchbacks can also be put in place for a pedestrian bridge. "

is exactly what used on the pedestrian access from Assiniboine Ave.

pictures of a Pedestrian Railway Bridge in Quesnel, BC. It uses a spiral design.

I think that if the idea was to rebuild the bridge, and do it to standards, the engineering company would likely go with a crescent shaped bridge. Pacific avenue already has an elevation advantage and I could be built like an entrance or exit ramp on an elevated freeway. Height above the tracks, as well as ramp grade could be done to standards, but the cost would be significant, but likely less than the Riverbank Discovery Centre.

I would gladly see my taxpayer $$ going to a vehicular bridge instead of the waste of money going to the ridiculous plans for the RDC. Our city is growing, we need to plan for better traffic control, and ease congestion.

I would rather see a cheap metal bridge for pedestrians. Google map the area and there is about 15 city blocks that would truly benefit from having a bridge for convenience of not having to go to 18th st. Cost of bridge was 30 million ish dollars? Pretty expensive for a small group of people.

and paying income, property, sales, etc. taxes, those taxes don't always go to the things that benefit you directly. that's like saying "that side street only services the block or 2 of residents that live there. Why fix that street just for those few people?" You have to fix and service and replace even the smallest of amenities or you are going in reverse.

Give your opinions!