Port Coquitlam’s McAllister footbridge is a key linkage between the city’s downtown and northern neighbourhoods.
And soon, it may be safer, wider and prettier.
This week, Port Coquitlam city council chose a bridge style and construction method for replacing the footbridge next year.
Even though the price tag is higher than expected, Mayor Brad West and councillors ultimately approved the plan.
Calling the bridge replacement a “significant investment in active transportation,” West said he liked the new bridge design because the “aesthetics and the attractiveness and the usability [...] satisfies what I hope to achieve.”
But the new bridge comes with a hefty 30 per cent increase in costs due to higher steel prices.
Now costing $2.2 million (not including the cost of removing the old structure), the McAllister footbridge will be put together on the old one and craned over to the new site upstream of the current bridge over the Coquitlam River.
A city map shows the new bridge would be more in line with McAllister Avenue in the city’s downtown.
While costs are higher than expected, there could be help on the way as the city believes a $500,000 active transportation grant could be coming from the province to cover the additional expense.
The new footbridge will also be wider than the current pedestrian bridge and will be able to accommodate public art.
For example, tiles could be suspended on cable netting, incorporating Indigenous art and there could be different types of effects, creating a kinetic display or other effects, depending on the lighting and view angles.
During Tuesday’s (Oct. 26), Port Coquitlam meeting, councillors chose a single span bridge with steel box girders that will have less permanent environmental impact on the river than the current structure and a construction method that should cause fewer disturbances to the river and surrounding roads.
It was hailed with some enthusiasm by West and his fellow councillors as the current 39-year-old bridge needs significant repair.
“Instead of ‘band-aids’ we’ll be getting a new bridge,” said West.
He also noted the 2022 construction period “fits in nicely” with McAllister Avenue's revitalization, now under construction, and plans to upgrade Veterans Park, Leigh Square and the Donald Pathway extension.
Earlier cost estimates pegged the bridge at about $1.6 million. But a staff report noted that steel prices made materials more expensive.
The so-called “signature style bridge” is more customizable than other types, and was mid-range among the three options presented.
However, it will cost an additional $588,000 to remove the old bridge at a later date.
The existing bridge would need to be closed for approximately two months while the new structure is assembled on the existing bridge deck.
As well, the project will require architectural study and monitoring to protect any First Nations items that could be unearthed.
