Public Meeting on the Rush to Replace the Johnson Street Bridge
The directors, organizers and supporters of the johnsonstreetbridge.org campaign will hold a public meeting on the ramifications of the City of Victoria’s planned replacement of the Blue Bridge
Tuesday August 25th – 7 pm to 8:30 pm
Victoria Public Library – Main Meeting Room
735 Broughton Street
Everyone is welcome
For further information on the meeting please phone 250 592 0574
Help Spread the Word about the Meeting: Download a Poster
email: info@johnsonstreetbridge.org
As noted by Bill Cleverley in the Saturday edition of the Times Colonist
“Victoria is pulling out all the stops in its $63-million Johnson Street Bridge replacement project.
But the haste has at least one community group worried that driving in the fast lane might not be the best route for taxpayers.
Working with a citizen advisory committee as a sounding board, Victoria council plans to unveil on Sept. 8 three options for a replacement bridge, do a quick blitz of public consultation and then select the new design just over two weeks later on Sept. 24.
All this is coming only five months after Victoria council approved in principle replacing the bridge and applied to the federal government for infrastructure grants to cover two thirds of the cost. By contrast, it took 20 years and two failed referenda to replace the former Memorial Arena for $28 million.
“The worry is that the city is setting up a situation in which there’s absolutely no turning back and no discussion outside of the very specific way that they’re going to frame it,” said Ross Crockford, a former Monday magazine editor who is director of a new citizens’ group concerned about the project.
In order to be eligible for the $42 million in stimulus grants, the project must be completed by March 31, 2011. The timeline is made even tighter because the federal Fisheries Department allows work in the ocean only from July to February. That means work in the water has to start by November if there is to be any hope of finishing on time.
Crockford’s group, www.johnsonstreetbridge.org, says trying to squeeze such a massive project into such a condensed timeframe puts taxpayers’ money at risk. If the city doesn’t meet the deadline for completion, the federal government can claw back any or all of the money it advances.”
Thanks very much for organizing this important public meeting.
The poster for it looks great, and congratulations to the designers.
I got it through the link provided in the article above.
The link to the poster in the right hand column doesn’t seem to work, however.
Gregory,
Thanks for your comments. The link will be fixed, well, right now.
All the best
Mat Wright
[...] Announcement: Public Meeting on the Rush to Replace the Johnson Street Bridge johnsonstreetbridge.org/?p=410 – view page – cached The directors, organizers and supporters of the johnsonstreetbridge.org campaign will hold a public meeting on the ramifications of the City of Victoria's planned replacement of the Blue Bridge Tuesday August 25th – 7 pm to 8:30 pm — From the page [...]