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87 Avenue Transit Bridge

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Daveography

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That will have to be a very long bridge. I'm imagining that they would connect 87th ave with Groat Road/University Ave ??

204636
 
KyleBlanchett said:
That will have to be a very long bridge. I'm imagining that they would connect 87th ave with Groat Road/University Ave ??
Click to expand...
That was my thought too — according to Google Maps its about 1.5 km from 87th to the far tip of University Ave. The valley drops down pretty quickly east of the 87th/142nd traffic circle, so I'd assume it would have to be elevated for the whole span. For transit though I think its kind of a necessity; getting from the University area to Laurier Heights takes far longer than it should.
 
I'd love to see a proper suspension bridge (not cable-stayed), but they are so expensive to build nowadays, and fraught with construction delays and issues (see the new Oakland Bay Bridge, mind you that one was built with some pretty experimental seismic stuff).
 
Oh my god, I want this bridge NOW!! It will be a MASSIVE help to alleviate much of the traffic on the Whitemud, since most people in that area use it to get to the university area, Also, I think it's a great idea to make it solely a transit bridge.
 
Another approach could be at University Avenue/Saskatchewan Drive. If it's a transit and pedestrian bridge, it could curve south and cross the river to the Valley Zoo. This route could be continued across the river to the Whitemud Equine Centre using the old Keillor Road right-of-way.
 
I'd say it would be the University Ave approach since it would cost the least houses at 6. At least that was the quote before Mandel backed off under threat of legal action from "concerned residents" aka the NIMBY'S of Laurier Park.. Anything else is cow-towing it niche interests or trying to make a project do too many things at once... A proper SW link to Windemere is decades overdue and could branch off easily at South Campus for example, but that's a separate line entirely to think about...
 
The_Cat said:
Another approach could be at University Avenue/Saskatchewan Drive. If it's a transit and pedestrian bridge, it could curve south and cross the river to the Valley Zoo. This route could be continued across the river to the Whitemud Equine Centre using the old Keillor Road right-of-way.
Click to expand...
An unstable slope that has effectively fallen into the river doesn't seem like the best path to be sending 40T LRT cars down unless A LOT of extra stabilization is done which I think would probably make the project cost prohibitive...
 
Although no one need remind me of how narrow-minded and focused this city can be at times. Need I remind anyone about the Tawatina hyperbolic protests from the Riverdale fringe that were willing to get arrested over a crumbling pedestrian bridge demanding they reroute the entire line (at at cost of $100M+) to save it? I am sure this would be MINOR in comparison to what people with million dollar properties in the river valley would do over there... SMH...

And this is why we STILL can't have nice things... 40 years and counting for this link...
 
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