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On March 15, 2012, Victoria’s council reluctantly approved a $15.8-million increase for the Johnson Street Bridge project, raising its budget to $92.8 million. Modern Democracy recorded the proceedings, which are worth watching to hear the statements of the engineers — and see how our elected officials react when they’re suddenly forced to spend a sum [...] Our message to Mayor Dean Fortin, and Victoria council is to ensure all questions surrounding costs, the project charter, oversight, the lifeline capacity of the bridge and more be answered completely to the satisfaction of council and stakeholders, before either one of the three staff options is accepted, or a better way forward is discovered. [...] It turns out that staff wrote a memo to mayor and council on November 22, right after the municipal election, explaining the delay. Recently, we got a copy of the memo. Today we sent the following response to the mayor: [...] This Thursday, March 15, at 1:30pm, Victoria councillors will get an update on the Johnson Street Bridge project. Much has happened since the councillors’ last update on February 7, including a federal announcement of $16.5 million in gas-tax money for the new bridge. [...] Around 80 people braved miserable weather to see workers detach the rail span from its counterweight, and then watch the largest maritime crane in western Canada slowly lower the span onto a barge, which will ferry it up Victoria’s harbour on Sunday for dismantling. [...] Rethinking the way rail might work on the new bridge offers a tremendous opportunity — and one that could save a future council from having to build a separate $35-million rail bridge to bring the E&N back into downtown. [...] A call for action. Delays in publishing City of Victoria reports on the seismic safety of buildings are an affront to Citizen Engagement. [...] If voters knew all that in November 2010, would they have thought differently about maxing out the City’s manageable debt on a $77-million, 8.5-quake-ready new bridge? It’s impossible to say. But no matter what, the Fire Hall report should have been released promptly, so voters would have had a more complete picture of the City’s immediate infrastructure needs, and the desperate state of its finances. [...] The terms of the Project Charter, a document and process designed to provide transparency and accountability to the City’s largest single infrastructure project, are not being met. Staff have failed to promptly notify you of a serious risk to the project, pushed for the severing of a historic rail link when it might have been preserved, and now want to undertake a public-relations exercise that may prove both costly and pointless. These concerns must be resolved before approving current, and future, recommendations on the scope of the Johnson Street Bridge project. [...] On February 10, we sent an open letter to all the NDP and Liberal leadership candidates, and transportation minister Shirley Bond, asking them to support the inclusion of rail on the new Johnson Street Bridge. Here are the responses… [...] |
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