The CPR railway bridge over the Otonabee River - Date unknown Clifford Skarstedt.

17 December 2012

Bridge to the Future

Peterborough Ontario - Yes, $3.4 million is a lot of money.
 
When city police can't hire more officers and funding for dental work for the poor is cut back, it might seem like too much to pay for a walkway across the Otonabee River.
 
But not replacing the footbridge portion of the railway bridge that connects downtown to East City would a short-sighted mistake.
 
Fortunately, it's not a mistake the city is likely to make.
 
City council didn't blink when the lowest construction bid was nearly $500,000 higher than the entire project budget and will likely award the contract next week.
 
While a dollar, is a dollar, is dollar, not all dollars the city spends are exactly the same. The footbridge budget is capital money, a one-time expenditure. Capital and operating budgets are separate. $1 spent on a bridge does not take $1 a year from the police department or welfare funding.
 
Value is the issue, as with any expenditure. What is the value of a bridge that makes it easier for people to walk, run, bicycle, skateboard, and rollerblade across the river?
 
Part of its value is support. Taxpayers, donors, service clubs, and other volunteers have invested millions of dollars in cash and thousands of hours of labour on an extensive trail network in and around Peterborough. Its popularity is on display every day.
 
The trails are used for transportation, exercise, relaxation, even as a tourist draw. They are an important element in the long-term vision of Peterborough as a livable city.
 
In a city divided by a river, bridges are crucial. There are only two trail links across the Otonabee. With the CPR footbridge closed for the past year there has been just two, at the London Street dam and another a bit further north. A trail system that spreads to nearly every corner of the city isn't complete if it is forced into just two threads of river crossings.
 
If anything the city should be searching for more ways to get non-motorists across the river. A proposed traffic bridge south of the Highway 115 bypass with built-in cycling lanes could be another long-term option.
 
Another consideration:  the opportunity to tack a footbridge onto the railway bridge represents a tremendous cost saving. A walking/cycling/etc. bridge across the Trent Canal at Trent University cost more than $1 million to build from scratch. The canal is roughly one-tenth as wide as the Otonabee where the train bridge crosses.
 
The bridge is an investment in Peterborough's future. It will be well used now and better used by generations to come. Expensive, but worth it.
 
Author unknown.