Van Wagner Pedestrian Bridge

[SteelTown]

^ really? I drive over that bridge every day to get to the McMaster parking lot. I'm assuming it's that bridge that lights up at night and over Cootes.

[flar]

^^That's the bridge. A student from one of the residences jumped last winter.

[SteelTown]

Wow never knew and I used that bridge last winter as well, must have been during final exam time. I hear a lot more concerns about students crossing Cootes.

[flar]

Yeah, the speed limit is now 40km/h on Cootes near Mac and there are two traffic lights within a very short distance. Kind of negates the point of having a controlled access highway shortcut into Dundas. Everyone still speeds and students still dart in and out of traffic. They should build a pedestrian bridge or tunnel at Cootes.

[SteelTown]

There's cops by the lights nearly every single day since the new speed limit came into affect. City is making good money off that reduced speed limit as cops are literally pulling cars after cars over.

I see a new sign at Cootes saying it's Veterans Memorial highway now.

[raisethehammer]

Cootes Drive is suprising. It's farily low like most bridges over a road.
At any rate, I don't think we need to worry about redesigning this entire bridge because someone might jump off.
If that's the case, then we should fill in the lower city or blow up the Mountain to rid ourselves of the escarpment, just in case someone wants to jump off the edge.

[DC83]

Originally Posted by BCTed

Bloor Street Viaduct?

http://www.nickelinstitute.org/index...i_id/12592.htm

******

The BSV actually isn't ghetto at all. Infact, I really like the "safety fence". I live near Bloor/Jarvis when I lived in TO, and walked over this bridge a million times to get the the Danforth & a neat 70-style Loblaws right on the other side of the bridge.

It was really neat and the fence actually acted like a peice of art rather than a ghetto fence we often see in the US.

If the QEW Ped Bridge has to have one of these fences, I hope it's similar to the one on the Bloor Street Viaduct!

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by DC83

http://www.nickelinstitute.org/index...i_id/12592.htm

******

The BSV actually isn't ghetto at all. Infact, I really like the "safety fence". I live near Bloor/Jarvis when I lived in TO, and walked over this bridge a million times to get the the Danforth & a neat 70-style Loblaws right on the other side of the bridge.

It was really neat and the fence actually acted like a peice of art rather than a ghetto fence we often see in the US.

If the QEW Ped Bridge has to have one of these fences, I hope it's similar to the one on the Bloor Street Viaduct!

I was actually offering the BSV as a reply to raisethehammer's question of "How often do you hear of someone jumping off of a street that crosses a highway?", but good stuff all the same.

[raisethehammer]

I was actually referring to typical city streets that cross highways such as all the crossings on the QEW, Linc, 403 etc....
Bloor St is unique given it's incredible height over the valley. It makes sense to have a safety fence that high up.

[coalminecanary]

Originally Posted by HAMRetrofit

^ Better they don't do it on top of the highway and endanger other's lives in the act of taking their own. The Bloor Street viaduct project is not lame. If you or someone you loved were injured by something that could have been so easily prevented I am sure you would understand.

I'm sorry, but when my loved ones get into a car, someone committing suicide onto their roof is the least of their worries. It's such a fringe danger, it's ridiculous to waste so much time and effort on preventing it. Why don't we all walk around with robotic lightning rods in tow? I'm sure getting hit by lightning is more likely than getting landed on by a suicide jumper.

Regarding the Bloor viaduct, what makes such little sense is that literally one major block north or south there is an equally deadly bridge you can jump off with no fences. SO aren't you just moving the problem to a different road?

It's lame -- better to hire a psychologist to walk up and down the road all day

[raisethehammer]

so true....it's just so American ghetto to have those big fences up.
Believe me, they aren't up there to prevent suicides. It's all the other crap people toss off the overpass in an effort to cause crashes and kill people.

[HAMRetrofit]

Originally Posted by coalminecanary

I'm sorry, but when my loved ones get into a car, someone committing suicide onto their roof is the least of their worries. It's such a fringe danger, it's ridiculous to waste so much time and effort on preventing it. Why don't we all walk around with robotic lightning rods in tow? I'm sure getting hit by lightning is more likely than getting landed on by a suicide jumper.

This probability of being jumped on is besides the point of the larger issues.

The problem was that the Bloor Street Viaduct was a popular jumping location and would tie up the DVP for hours after a jump. With the high frequency of jumping at this particular location an intervention needed to be made. The cause for high jump frequency was similar to a moth flying into a lamp. For some psychological reason, jumpers were attracted to this particular location. The other locations that you mention did not tie up the DVP for hours and were not subject to as high of frequency jumping.

The TTC subway is now a popular location for jumping. I wish there could be some type of change made to prevent this. The trauma of these events have a hiccup effect that causes emotional harm on others. Whether or not you believe that your loved ones are safe from being jumped on or not does not spare you from the trauma of the experience. I am uncertain if you have ever witnessed a suicide before, but I can assure you it is awful. Often witnessing an event like this can have long term implications.

Originally Posted by coalminecanary

It's lame -- better to hire a psychologist to walk up and down the road all day

To hire a psychologist would have cost $200 an hour at 24 hours a day at 365 days a year for an annual budget of $1,752,000. After a couple of years this already exceeds the cost of the jump protectors.

[coalminecanary]

The psychologist comment was sarcasm

For the record, I have witnessed the death of a child in my own driveway. I understand the implications of witnessing or being otherwise involved in suicides or other tragedies. I feel for anyone who has gone through that kind of thing. But man, this is life -- there are risks associated with living. You could die on day! Or you could see someone else die! I mean, if we really cared to reduce the number of people who are traumatized by seeing someone die, or if we wanted to reduce delays on the highways because of tragedies, we should start by banning cars. More people witness car accidents than suicide jumps.

And just like I said, the jumpers have just been displaced. So are we to build fences on every bridge and walls at every subway station and enclose all of the railroads in tunnels and cease sale of razor blades and only allow people to buy sleeping pills one at a time and and and and?

Anyway sorry this is way off topic, I just think that the suicide fences are a bit of a joke. Like, how is it supposed to work?
"Life sucks. I think I'll go jump off the bridge this morning. Darn they put a fence up. I guess I'll go to work instead"...? There have got to be better ways to deal with the problem than putting up fences!

[raisethehammer]

Originally Posted by coalminecanary

The psychologist comment was sarcasm

For the record, I have witnessed the death of a child in my own driveway. I understand the implications of witnessing or being otherwise involved in suicides or other tragedies. I feel for anyone who has gone through that kind of thing. But man, this is life -- there are risks associated with living. You could die on day! Or you could see someone else die! I mean, if we really cared to reduce the number of people who are traumatized by seeing someone die, or if we wanted to reduce delays on the highways because of tragedies, we should start by banning cars. More people witness car accidents than suicide jumps.

And just like I said, the jumpers have just been displaced. So are we to build fences on every bridge and walls at every subway station and enclose all of the railroads in tunnels and cease sale of razor blades and only allow people to buy sleeping pills one at a time and and and and?

Anyway sorry this is way off topic, I just think that the suicide fences are a bit of a joke. Like, how is it supposed to work?
"Life sucks. I think I'll go jump off the bridge this morning. Darn they put a fence up. I guess I'll go to work instead"...? There have got to be better ways to deal with the problem than putting up fences!

Lol! I love that bit about "I guess I'll go to work instead".
Like Seinfeld's bit about people who try to commit suicide and don't succeed and then don't ever try again.

anyhow, yea, this is way off topic.
Suffice to say, we don't need suicide fencing on this pedestrian bridge.
By the way, when do we find out if/when this thing is actually a go?

[SteelTown]

Tomorrow a funding announcement will be made from the provincial government, not sure if Premier Dalton will make the announcement. A post-budget announcement.

$14 million towards the bridge and park development. YAY!!!

[SteelTown]

Province To Fund Pedestrian Bridge Over QEW
3/27/2008

Another major provincial announcement is expected on Friday in Hamilton.

CHML news has learned that a news conference will be held at the Marine Discovery Center at 3 o'clock, to confirm funding of a cycling and pedestrian bridge over the QEW, as part of the ReNew Ontario program.

Ward 4 Councillor Sam Merulla first presented the idea six years ago. City Council voted to request provincial funding of it during a meeting in mid-February.

In addition to the construction of a signature bridge over the QEW in the city's east end, the 14 million dollar project also calls for the conversion of the former Rennie Street landfill into an active recreational area.

The waterfront trail will also be extended through the rehabiliated Rennie and Brampton Street landfill sites.

[raisethehammer]

awesome...let's hope construction doesn't take another 6 years.
no wonder things take forever to do around here. Bogota builds a great BRT system and bike system in 3 years. we take 6 years just to fund a 14 million dollar bridge....probably another year or two before it's done. 8 year project. wow. welcome to north america.

[thistleclub]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

awesome...let's hope construction doesn't take another 6 years.
no wonder things take forever to do around here. Bogota builds a great BRT system and bike system in 3 years. we take 6 years just to fund a 14 million dollar bridge....probably another year or two before it's done. 8 year project. wow. welcome to north america.

The problem is that most people don't factor in Merulla's years in the wilderness (unless they happen to be on his press release list, in which case they'll get regular reminders of how far out in front of everyone his thinking is). They caught wind of the bridge around this time last year when council approved the project, then forgot about it again until last month, when it became a news story again. So they see a compacted timeline of anywhere from 1-12 months. Anyway, I hope the bridge turns out well. That end of town isn't particularly accommodating to pedestrians and cyclists.

Less excited about the idea of a Rennie Street Landfill Play Zone.

[SteelTown]

City gets $14 million for new landmark pedestrian bridge


March 27, 2008
By DANIEL NOLAN

HAMILTON – The Ontario government is set to give $14 million to Hamilton to help build a splashy eye-catching pedestrian bridge over the Queen Elizabeth Way in east Hamilton.

The funds, coming from $300 million geared to infrastructure, are to be unveiled by local Liberal MPPs Ted McMeekin and Sophia Aggelonitis at the Marine Discovery Centre Friday afternoon.

“I want to thank Premier Dalton McGuinty and the Ontario government for recognizing how merited this initiative is,” said Ward 4 Councillor Sam Merulla, who first pushed council to make a “gateway” bridge a priority in 2004. “I’m very pleased and it’s a good day for the east end of Hamilton.”

Merulla said about $8 million will go towards building the bridge and the rest is slated for new trails and renovation of the former Rennie Street landfill into a recreation area.

He couldn’t say when construction will start, but said it couldn’t start soon enough.

The bridge is to be built over the QEW between Burlington Street and Centennial Parkway.

It will link the Beach Recreational Trail and the Bruce Trail through the Red Hill Valley.

[SteelTown]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

Less excited about the idea of a Rennie Street Landfill Play Zone.

Millions were spent during the construction of the Red Hill to remove all the landfill from Rennie.