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Edmonton 109th Street Living Bridge Concept

archited

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This Concept envisions renovating the existing High Level Bridge and repurposing it as a high-end boutique retail and eatery construct whereby the existing traffic deck and sidewalks are replaced with Commercial Retail Units (CRUs) and Commercial Hospitality Units (CHUs), modified to enable "sky-decks" to cantilever off the west-facing facade. The upper deck would be retained for the Edmonton Radial Railway Streetcars -- perhaps with a mid-span station that accesses a public Over-the-River Park imbued with Multiple Use Paths (MUPs), Ornamental Landscape beds and specimens, River Valley Outlooks, and Confectionery and Casual Eatery Kiosks.
Replacing the existing function of the High Level Bridge vis-a-vis motor-traffic a new "Living Bridge" would span from the Legislature Grounds HLB approach in a direct line to the cross-river existing Garneau District 109th Street alignment. The Living Bridge piers would be built out to include mid-rise and high-rise condominiums and apartments. The auto portion of the bridge would be served by two lanes in each direction with a centre-lane accessing automated parking below the auto deck. The newly created street would be lined with Retail, Hospitality and (on second levels) Service businesses.
The ERR (Edmonton Radial Railway) would be modified as a year-round conveyance that has road-bed ensconced LSMs (Linear Synchronous Motors) -- thereby eliminating overhead conduction wires and serving up a much more efficient means of propulsion with inherent built-in safety standards. The interior of streetcars would be luxuriously appointed and would be "free to ride". The conveyance system provided by the upgraded system would NOT be a rapid people-mover but rather would be a community-binder connecting Old Strathcona to Jasper Avenue (with future extensions at both ends and myriad points-of-interest stations along the expanded route).
The foregoing is an introduction -- a massing model will serve to more easily describe the intent.
 
The attached "Massing Model" is not intended to represent any particular architectural style; it is intended to show development possibilities for a new "Living Bridge" adjacent to the existing High Level Bridge. The upper right-hand side of the model is the portion immediately west of the Legislature Building; the lower left and side of the model shows the connection to 109th street.
Envisioning the portion north of the North Saskatchewan River -- I could see this as a potential Alberta Tribal enclave that would have a Council-type governing body that deals with concerns from all of the Treaty areas in Alberta and therefore with all of the tribal entities in turn. The physical form might advance the idea of a "Talking Circle". As well there could be ceremonial space (Smudge Ceremonies, Pipe Ceremonies, etc.), space for cultural expression of Alberta First Nations, and space for First Nations business incubators. Street level businesses might include Indigenous start-ups -- retail, hospitality, and artistic expression (museums & galleries).
A natural for the design of this leg of the Living Bridge would be Douglas Cardinal -- his organic earthy forms would provide an exciting counterpoint to the formal period sensibility of the Legislature building.
LIVING BRIDGE MODEL 1.png
 
No train -- Streetcars upgraded to year-round service over the existing High Level Bridge. Trains already service the southeast and the southwest of the City (or at least they will at some point).
 
I admit I'm lost but maybe more details will emerge down the road. I have questions for you, @archited :

1. Will there be enough room for large 18-wheelers and ETS buses to travel from one end to the other? If this alleviates the weekly problems with trucks getting stuck in the rail bridge then it's already a big win in my books!
2. Will this be one-way or two-way for trucks and ETS buses?
3. Will the MUPs be wide enough on both sides for pedestrians, cyclists and scooters?
4. Will it be suicide proof?
 
I have questions for you, @archited :

1. Will there be enough room for large 18-wheelers and ETS buses to travel from one end to the other? If this alleviates the weekly problems with trucks getting stuck in the rail bridge then it's already a big win in my books! Yes
2. Will this be one-way or two-way for trucks and ETS buses? Two Way
3. Will the MUPs be wide enough on both sides for pedestrians, cyclists and scooters? A repurposed High Level Bridge will serve bicycles and scooters -- the sidewalks will be wide for pedestrians and pedestrian like uses.
4. Will it be suicide proof? As much as can be achieved with architectural amenities.
 
So the initial portion from the edge of the river north designed by Douglas Cardinal would support these features:
1. Alberta Tribal Council -- a governing body that comprises all of the tribes and indigenous constituencies of Alberta, including Métis.
2. A cultural enclave that may see a relocation of IKWC (Indigenous Knowledge and Wisdom Centre) coupled with a museum that houses Indigenous artifacts and cultural expression.
3. A Talking Circle Conference Room that is deemed to be a negotiating platform for all things political.
4. An Alberta Museum for Indigenous Culture.
5. A Tribal Support Industry mechanism that advises and supports entrepreneurial start-ups -- a business incubator.
6. An Indigenous Art Gallery.
7. Representational offices for Indigenous enterprises.
8. At the Retail level, Indigenous ventures.
9. At the Hospitality level, Indigenous ventures.
10. Service Industries related to Indigenous businesses -- attorneys, travel agents, accountants, etc.
Room to grow... room to expand.
11. A post-secondary School (perhaps affiliated with Athabasca University) that focuses on Indigenous Culture, Indigenous Well-being, and Indigenous Opportunity.
12. A Co-operative Housing Mid-rise Apartment that works on myriad levels -- for students, seniors, financially-challenged, and progressively minded.
13. A roof-top garden that features an enclosed Atrium for Alberta Plants and Avian specimens, particularly raptors that have a strong presence in indigenous culture -- an aviary in the mode of Jurong Bird Park with technological advantages such as uplift currents that promote soaring, food-tethered circular modular mechanisms, and aerie-type nesting scenarios.
14. Wild-oriented iconic gardens, waterfalls, and prairie sensibilities.
 
I think it'd be nice to revitalize the bridge, and I appreciate the living concept you're using, but I don't think it's a good idea to modernize the streetcars. Their ridership had been increasing each year before covid hit - peaking at around 100,000 people in 2019 - and it's not just because of the view from the bridge—it's also because of the historic nature of the streetcars themselves.

People think it's really cool to ride accurately-restored streetcars that are decades old, and from Japan and Australia. We also get some guests who rode the original Edmonton system before it closed, and they love riding the Edmonton one. I think another transportation system across the river would be great, but it should be separate from the ERRS because they'd have two very different mandates. The one you envision is a nice way to efficiently move people from point A to point B all year round. The ERRS is a living museum run and operated by volunteers, which exists to keep Edmonton's streetcar history alive and allow people to experience a form of travel that used to be the backbone of Edmonton's transportation system. It's a great way to get from Whyte to Jasper, but that doesn't make it a transportation system.

Edmonton had a chance to go the San Francisco route when it considered leasing some streetcars from the ERRS and running and maintaining them with ETS or retired ETS staff. But they ultimately didn't go through with that (this was considered by council in the early 90s, before the ERRS started operating the HLB route), and the moment is gone. As I said previously, only one of the HLB streetcars is heated, and we simply don't have the frequency to keep the flangeways clear of ice and packed snow even if we wanted to run in the winter. Even with our current schedule, our ridership numbers tend to decline noticeably by October.

Simply put, the HLB streetcar is one of Edmonton's most popular tourist attractions, and it brings tens of thousands of visitors to the Whyte Ave and Jasper Ave areas between May-October. Instead of ruining that by replacing it with a modern service that is more transportation-focused (even though it'd be luxurious and free as you stated), we should have that second system built to compliment it instead. It's like how I view the gondola: Two separate services with two separate mandates; sometimes people will want to ride one, and other times they'll want to ride the other. :)

TL;DR

The streetcar system you propose is greatly different from the High Level Bridge Streetcar, and we should have both systems to compliment one-another instead of removing one for the other.
 

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