Removal of foot bridges cause for concern in N.K.

Gerry Green has been a regular on the Northeast Pioneers Greenway for some time, so he was a little surprised a few weeks ago to discover he wasn’t quite sure how to get there.

The North Kildonan resident said he was shocked when he walked his two dogs across Raleigh Street and discovered that they would have to find another way to get across the ditch to the trail.

Green, who lives on Edison Avenue, said he had been using a wooden bridge near his street to get across the ditch between Raleigh and the trail until just a few weeks ago.

Now, the bridge is gone and an orange snow fence sits in its place.

It’s the same situation a little further down near McLeod Avenue, where Green said many people, including mothers with strollers and seniors, used the bridge to get to businesses along Gateway Road.

“The foot bridge is a big deal for me and a lot of other people,” said Green, who also rides his bike on the trail.

Coun. Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) acknowledged that the bridges are gone.

“Apparently, somebody slipped and fell and injured themselves pretty critically,” said Browaty, adding that the bridges were not put there by the city.

Browaty declined to provide any further details on the alleged injury.

“I had a notion that that was probably the issue,” Green said about the alleged injury.

He believes a local business donated the approximately three-foot-wide foot bridges that didn’t have any guard rails.

Browaty said despite the fact the bridges were well used by the community, they were removed because they weren’t civic property.

Browaty said the city will be installing culverts and asphalt paths in their place in the fall.

“They will be completed before the snow flies,” Browaty said.

Ken Allen, a spokesperson for the city’s public works department, said that the foot bridges were removed to make way for two permanent structures.

The snow fences will remain in place until construction begins after the September long weekend.

Green questioned the need for the fences. He said people have been walking and cycling in the ditch beside them to get across.

“People are already making new trails through the water and mud and destroying more plants along the way,” Green said.

The construction of the access paths will coincide with the second phase of development of the greenway, Allen said. The second phase will extend to Knowles Avenue.

Future plans include landscaping, installing benches and linking the trail to The Forks and Birds Hill Provincial Park.