356 replies to this topic

[Bingo]

Like the Johnson Street Bridge project, another bridge seeks CRD funding.

Craigflower bridge can't be fixed; Saanich asks CRD to help pay $10 million cost to replace the span

The Capital Regional District has $18 million of gas tax funds to spend on regionally significant projects. Saanich council on Tuesday endorsed supporting a joint application with the Town of View Royal requesting funding for the new bridge project.
"It's got everything. It's proposed to be an important bus route in the new transit master plan, it's on the CRD cycling route, it's a truck route, it serves the base. It really is a regional project," Hemstock said.

http://www.bclocalne.../115654599.html

[Mike K.]

How the tables have turned...

[Nparker]

We are one region - amalgamation now.

[Hotel Mike]

Wow. It's 77 years old. Can't we make Saanich study a refurbishment option?

[Mike K.]

Wow. It's 77 years old. Can't we make Saanich study a refurbishment option?

They already did. Today's news is a complete 180 from plans revealed in September.

If the CRD foots almost the entire bill for this replacement then the City of Victoria should cry bloody murder. Victoria's politicians have the opportunity to make themselves heard now and put Saanich/View Royal in the spotlight.

[Bob Fugger]

They already did. Today's news is a complete 180 from plans revealed in September.

If the CRD foots almost the entire bill for this replacement then the City of Victoria should cry bloody murder. Victoria's politicians have the opportunity to make themselves heard now and put Saanich/View Royal in the spotlight.

I secretly hope that Saanich/View Royal gets the cash and the City doesn't - and Council chokes on it. The Craigflower Bridge has more regional significance (from a usage/infrastructure perspective) than the JSB.

[Mike K.]

The Craigflower Bridge has more regional significance (from a usage/infrastructure perspective) than the JSB.

How can you argue that the JSB has less regional significance if it carries more vehicles/pedestrians/cyclists every day and is actually part of active transit routes?

[Bob Fugger]

How can you argue that the JSB has less regional significance if it carries more vehicles/pedestrians/cyclists every day and is actually part of active transit routes?

To be honest, I wasn't entirely sold on that statement when I first wrote it. But then I thought about it, and I realized that it links two municipalities and there are no real convenient alternatives, unlike the JSB, which has the PEB right up the road. I'd also argue that at least the affected municipalities could agree as to a shared responsibility; unlike Esquimalt with the JSB.

[Mike K.]

I would wager that the majority of Victorians have no idea where the Craigflower bridge even is. Go ahead and ask an average person in your office and they won't know which municipalities it connects let alone the road it's on.

[Bob Fugger]

I would wager that the majority of Victorians have no idea where the Craigflower bridge even is. Go ahead and ask an average person in your office and they won't know which municipalities it connects let alone the road it's on.

Right - which is why I qualifed my statement with a perspective. From a historical/iconic perspective, JSB wins hands down. I think that the mere fact that two of the dozen or so fiefdoms that make up the CRD can agree to replace this bridge makes it regionally significant. Although in thinking this through, I suppose what I'm saying is that the act of cooperation is what is of regional significance, rather than the bridge itself.

[Bingo]

I would wager that the majority of Victorians have no idea where the Craigflower bridge even is. Go ahead and ask an average person in your office and they won't know which municipalities it connects let alone the road it's on.

I think most Victorians know that the infamous Craigflower Bridge is near the intersection of Admirals and Craigflower Road, and it was there that Kelly Ellard was murdered. The bridge is on Admirals Road next to the historic Craigflower schoolhouse that was built in 1855, and is the oldest surviving schoolhouse in Western Canada.

According to Saanich 18,000 vehicles per day use the bridge, but like the figures for the Johnson Street Bridge may have been fudged to support a point of view.

[martini]

^Kelly Ellard murdered Reena Virk

[Bingo]

^Kelly Ellard murdered Reena Virk

Correct, my error.

[amor de cosmos]

CRD allocates $10-million in gas taxes to Craigflower bridge replacement

By Kyle Slavin - Saanich News
Published: June 16, 2011 4:00 PM
Updated: June 16, 2011 4:03 PM

The aging Craigflower Bridge will soon see a shiny new successor take its place as the high-traffic crossing connecting Saanich and View Royal.

On Wednesday, the Capital Regional District board allocated $10 million in gas tax funds to support the construction of a new bridge and approaches.

"This is a regionally significant bridge. Over half the traffic is external to Saanich and View Royal. Even in peak hours, you're looking at 42 per cent (of vehicles) are external to Saanich and View Royal," Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard said. The two municipalities will foot the rest of the cost of the bridge, estimated to be an additional $800,000.


A load assessment conducted last December determined a repaired and widened bridge – the original plan – wouldn't be able to sustain traffic load estimates. A repaired bridge would last less than 15 years unless traffic restrictions are put in place.

Stantec Consulting Ltd. was initially awarded a contract in November to fix the bridge, but work was suspended after it was determined repairs created more issues.

http://www.bclocalne.../124038294.html

[Mike K.]

Victoria tax payers will pay nearly $80-million (minus the $21-million federal grant) for a bridge replacement and the CRD couldn't come up with a dime for that project, but foots virtually the entire bill for the Craigflower bridge?

Something stinks here.

[Sparky]

^ Maybe the CRD did not want to become involved in a project that wasn't popular or necessary.

[G-Man]

What percentage of JSB traffic is not from Victoria?

[phx]

What percentage of JSB traffic is not from Victoria?

I wouldn't expect much. How many people travel between Esquimalt and Oak Bay?

[G-Man]

^ Really I bet that the majority of traffic on JSB is from outside the city.

[Nparker]

I think you'd win that bet too.