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. [...]
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Delay has nothing to do with the dramatic rise in costs, in fact according to the Vancouver Island Construction Association, labour and material costs have fallen 15-20% since 2008, and the strengthening Canadian Dollar means materials purchased in the US are cheaper. [...]
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Despite a spirited debate on including rail as the base refurbishment or replacement projects for the public to consider over the next six weeks, council has ratified a motion which excludes the rail option from the public engagement consideration – but they reserve the right to re-include a rail path if other funding is forthcoming by December 31st 2010 (well after the referendum) [...]
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What was not presented, or discussed, were the potential outcomes of any council decision in regard to a borrowing bylaw – which will be presented as a question in the November referendum. Most council members appear to be in favour of retaining rail for either option which means considering borrowing either $68 million for replacement, or $82 million for refurbishment [...]
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johnsonstreetbridge.org and concerned citizens felt it imperative to address council as this would be the final opportunity to speak directly to all City Councillors and the Mayor before a Blue Bridge report on June 14th, and a potential decision on refurbishment options on June 17th. [...]
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May 6th the Governance and Priorities Committee received an update from City of Victoria Assistant Director of Engineering Mike Lai on the technical progress to date, along with the public engagement/information process from Katie Josephson, Director of Communications. [...]
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The goal was for students to create a 50:1 scale model of the Johnson Street Bridge (and they could use different bascule methods such as a lift or swing bridge), but it was more about project presentation and systems. It was however presented as ‘New Designs’ [...]
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On February 18, Victoria’s councillors directed City staff to spend $840,000 to investigate the options involved in repairing the Johnson Street Bridge. Many johnsonstreetbridge.ORG supporters have been wondering how the City plans to proceed with this work. [...]
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As expected, council has chosen the second option – previous meetings and statements (plus nearly 10 000 petition signatures) made it clear the public wants in depth examination of repairing the bridge, to balance that against the information already known about the chosen replacement bridge, and make a decision. [...]
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The Johnson Street Bridge petition campaign is over – the oversight and engagement continues. What are the next steps for council and the City of Victoria? Will they seek independent expertise for costs on bridge refurbishment? What is the date for a referendum, and…what is the question to be put to voters? [...]
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