Johnson Street Bridge Victoria BC

A Proposal to Save Rail on the new Johnson Street Bridge

On November 22, we wrote to Victoria’s councillors, asking them to investigate the capacity of the new bridge to carry light-rail transit. As we pointed out, modern LRT cars weigh less than semitrailer trucks, so LRT might be feasible on the new bridge as well – thus saving the City from having to build a separate $35-million rail bridge later on – if the council is willing to ask a few questions right now, before the bridge architects finish their designs. Read THE PROPOSAL, and tell us what you think.

Sound the alarm!

An Open Letter re: Delayed Public Safety Reports

On October 20, Victoria councillors received two consultants’ reports about the sorry state of Crystal Pool and our main fire hall. The news was grim: the pool has numerous safety issues, and could face decommissioning in as little as 12 months. And the main fire hall would largely be inoperable after a major earthquake, because collapsed entrances would make it impossible for fire trucks to leave the building.

Even more shocking: City staff had been sitting on those reports for up to a year and a half, even though the documents identified concerns of public safety. The Fire Hall report was issued on March 10, 2010 – but was not presented to councillors, or promptly dealt with. Instead, City staff continually pushed a new Johnson Street Bridge as Victoria’s number-one infrastructure priority, right up to the November 2010 referendum.

Read THE BACKGROUND, and AN OPEN LETTER to the councillors, calling on them to demand a full explanation for these delays – and for the City Manager to release a still-withheld assessment of the seismic risks to City buildings, completed in December 2010.

The Key Bridge Reports

Delcan’s April 2009 Johnson Street Bridge Condition Assessment estimating rehabilitation and seismic upgrades to the 1924-built bridge for $23.6 million
Commonwealth Historic Resource Management’s April 2009 Heritage Assessment of the Johnson Street Bridge identifying the 1924 bridge as a “very significant heritage landmark”
MMM Group’s June 2010 Replacement and Rehabilitation Options presentation, increasing rehabilitation estimates to $80 million and replacement to $77 million
Advicas Group’s June 2010 Class “C” Estimates detailing the increased replacement and rehabilitation costs
Ipsos-Reid’s August 2010 Business and Residential Survey Results on the proposed rehabilitation and replacement options

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About johnsonstreetbridge.ORG

Created by Mat Wright, Ross Crockford, and Yule Heibel, this website about Victoria’s Johnson Street Bridge exists to provide a platform for independent information – and further discussion with you.

Although we hold a variety of views on what should happen with the bridge, the three of us came together because of shared convictions:

that the City of Victoria’s political process to replace the bridge is seriously flawed;
that there are alternatives to this process;
that Victorians deserve much more of a say about the process for a project of this scope.

The current estimate for replacing the Johnson Street Bridge is $63 million $77 million. But numbers are only the beginning.

There is much more at stake. We hope that you will explore this site, to learn how you can inform yourself and make your voice heard.

We blog (and invite you to leave comments, please); we have a culture page, a media page, a poll where we invite you to vote, and a newsletter to which we invite you to subscribe. And we have lots of additional links from other websites for you to explore. Welcome, and click on!

How to Get Informed and Involved

Subscribe to our email updates, to get the latest bridge news, instantly and every time it is published on this website. See “Blue Bridge News!” on the left sidebar to sign up.

Contact Us with your comments, opinions and suggestions. We welcome your feedback.

Online Social Media – Help us spread the news! Follow on Twitter @johnsonstbridge ; Retweet the blogs and pages to #yyj and make this viral! Get your Facebook friends involved.