Media Roundup – Johnson Street Bridge

The Blue Bridge pictured through Old Town - Eric Porcher

Media attention to local issues comes in waves, with the Johnson Street Bridge reaching a crest in the lead up to an August 12th Council decision. The City of Victoria is undergoing a Blue Bridge public engagement process with a mail in and Ipsos Reid phone survey, designed to guide Mayor Dean Fortin and Council in their choice of a borrowing bylaw for a planned November referendum. That stands currently at $77 million for replacement, or a $80 million rehabilitation of the bridge. That rises when rail is included.

Residents have until August 3rd to submit their City of Victoria mail in survey forms to City Hall, and the johnsonstreetbridge.ORG  supplementary questionnaire.

Meanwhile, at the request of Mayor Dean Fortin, he and staff met with the Times Colonist Editorial Board, and outlined his new vision of the bridge…

Mayor Dean Fortin, who has been a strong supporter of replacement, now says he doesn’t care which option is chosen.

“For me at this stage, the best option is the one that has the most likelihood to succeed at referendum,” Fortin said. If a referendum fails, he said, “in the next two or three years we would have to decommission [the bridge]. We’d have to take it away.” Full Article

and Peter Sparanese, City of Victoria Operations Manager, and recently former Director of Engineering…

The bottom line, say engineers, is that the bridge can’t be left as is.

“We’re looking at a potential closure of this bridge in 2012 based on the condition assessment information provided by our engineering consultants,” city director of operations Peter Sparanese said.

“That’s a serious consideration for the city. We don’t want to be there.”

with Katie Josephson, City of Victoria Director of Communications, stating in a followup Times Colonist article…

Katie Josephson, city director of communications, told the Times Colonist editorial board that residents weren’t asked in the householder survey whether they favoured replacement or refurbishment for two reasons.

The mail-in survey is not a scientifically representative sample, whereas the Ipsos Reid survey the city is also conducting is.

Further, she said, the householder survey does not provide a broad representation from a wide demographic.

“Mail-ins are predominantly from property owners in specific neighbourhoods, often male versus female. We want to hit all corners of the community.”

Which of course raises a question to the City of Victoria communication staff. If these problems were noted before the mailout, why go ahead with an expensive public engagement process when it is admitted, in the media, the results might be flawed? How will that be presented to Council as part of their August 12th decision?

That is reflected in the responses…

City’s mailer on bridge just fear-mongering
BY BRUCE WALE, TIMES COLONIST JULY 25, 2010
I actually laughed out loud while reading the mailer I received from the City of Victoria entitled “The Future of the Johnson Street Bridge.” It was a political document pretending to be a call for public input.

The publication is replete with threats and fear-mongering. “If nothing is done to address the Johnson Street Bridge within in the next two years it will face closure,” the city threatens. Write back to city council if you want, but you should know the decision’s already been made.

I challenge anyone to find evidence that the city engineering department was warning council about serious seismic issues with the Johnson Street Bridge prior to Dean Fortin taking office.

And don’t be surprised that the refurbishment option turned out to be more expensive than building a new bridge. The fix is in.

Bruce Wale

and even the Major has weighed in…

That discussion was overtaken by one about the Johnson Street Bridge. A nearly deaf mem was concerned over the possible demolition of the Johnson Street bridge. He shouted that 30 years ago the rusty viaduct was covered with leftover blue paint from light poles.

The populace, showing creative skills, immediately renamed it “the Blue Bridge.” It was built by the same chap who designed the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and remains a brilliant example of technical genius, all the better for the city fathers to tear it down. The reason cited: It is falling apart, or as any thinking person would say, neglect and negligence. He just hoped the names of the guilty city elders are remembered.

By numbering the mail in surveys the City of Victoria has implied the mail survey responses will be taken at a greater level of contribution and credibility than an online, or phone survey poll, in terms of advising council. Yet they have only provided a single respondent form to households, when the reality is each household should have more than one potential voter. There is no alternative to pick up another numbered survey form through City Hall or another location, or download online. This after the previous Ipsos Reid survey clearly stated that businesses were looking for an interactive website.

The mail survey is also flawed as it may have not reached all households. There are concerns about postal delivery.

Finally – let’s go back to a Times Colonist article in 2009 – Lengthy Bridge Closures Unlikely, as quoted…

Lengthy bridge closure unlikely
Bill Cleverley. Times – Colonist. Victoria, B.C.: Apr 4, 2009. pg. A.3

City engineers hope the public will be able to cross that bridge when they get to it — even if it’s in the middle of being replaced.

They’re optimistic repair or replacement work on the Johnson Street Bridge would at most see total road closures of only a day or two at a time. “We’re not looking at shutting down the bridge for 18 months. I don’t think that would be totally acceptable,” said Mike Lai, Victoria’s assistant director of transportation and bridge project manager.

Consultants’ preliminary estimates call for road closures totalling 12 working days — not likely consecutive — if the decision is made to refurbish the 85-year-old landmark blue bridge. The number of closure days if the bridge is replaced is unknown, but the goal would be to minimize the impact by building a new three-lane bridge beside the existing one.

An estimated 30,000 vehicles use the Johnson Street bridge daily.

The first step would be to decommission the rail portion of the bridge, Lai said, then construction of a new road bridge, decommissioning of the existing road bridge, and construction of the new rail portion.

Lai said the work would slow traffic and could reduce the lanes from three to two — one in each direction. The consultants estimate it would take 18 months to two years to refurbish the bridge and two to four years to replace it. “At this point, we don’t see it as a lengthy full closure for two years or anything like that.”

Replacement would mean the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Rail terminal would be temporarily relocated to the west side of the bridge, but it would also provide the opportunity to straighten out the S-curve on that side and eliminate the underpass.

An assessment by consultants Delcan Corp. of the 85-year-old steel bridge found it would fail in a significant earthquake, because of its timber piles and aged laced steel beams. The bridge deck could also unlock and open in a quake and the counterweight would collapse.

A refurbished Johnson Street Bridge is estimated to cost between $25 million and $30 million and last another 40 years, while a new bridge would cost $35 million to $40 million and likely last 100 years.

Councillors will receive a final report on bridge options April 23. The city hopes to secure funding from senior levels of governmentfor $5-million worth of improvements to the two-lane Point Ellice Bridge at Bay Street, which would help handle additional traffic. The improvements would add sidewalks and bikeways to both sides of the bridge and improve approach roads.

Your comments and feedback are welcome….

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