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EMC News – Do you prefer an open or enclosed bridge over the river?
Residents got their first chance to review three preliminary bridge designs for the much-touted third crossing of the Cataraqui River at a public open house last week.
“The bridge must be able to blend into the surrounding area and minimize the environmental impacts on the river,” said Mark Van Buren, the city’s director of engineering.
The city is working with consultant J.L. Richards to come up with a suitable two-lane bridge design. The estimated cost of a third crossing is $120 million plus HST.
Each bridge concept offers different architectural features to span the 1.1 kilometre gap between Counter Boulevard and Gore Road. The designs range from a no frills bridge to an elaborate steel, bird nest-style enclosure:
-the open concept ‘box girder’ is a very basic design that features 23 piers set 50 metres apart,
-the ‘tube’ concept is considered an avant garde design using rounded steel that forms a tube around the bridge with 11 piers that are placed 100 metres apart,
-the ‘arch’ design is an open concept that provides a lone arch over the navigable channel to show the bridge as a gateway to the Rideau Canal with 13 V-shaped piers at 83 metre spans.
City officials handed out a detailed information package to help explain and visualize the third crossing. It includes concept views of the bridge in the summer and winter months.
Each bridge option includes a 1.5 to 1.8-metre wide bike lane on both sides, along with a series of observation points along the south side of the bridge.
The bridge clearance over the water would gradually rise from three metres on the western shore, to as high as 14 metres over the navigable channel, and then descend to 12 metres over the eastern shore.
As well, the bridge would be constructed on a gradual S-curve towards the eastern shore landing in the Point St. Mark neighbourhood to reduce noise and visual impacts in the area.
The proposed intersection alignments at each bridge landing point are also discussed. The east side concept includes four lanes of traffic plus turning lanes at Highway 15 that would narrow to two lanes at the bridge crossing. The west side concept also envisions a two lane bridge that would widen to four traffic lanes plus turning lanes at the Counter Boulevard and Montreal Street intersection.
The designs were unveiled as part of a complex environmental assessment that will determine which bridge design is most sympathetic to the area and how to minimize the impact on water and wildlife.
The third crossing study was initiated by the last council as a way to reduce traffic congestion on the LaSalle Causeway. The final study results will be presented to another public open house this fall before it goes to council for final approval in December.
Once approved, the environmental assessment will have a shelf life of ten years for construction to begin.
© 2009 – 2011 Kingston EMC.
Full Article: http://www.emckingston.ca/20110407/news/Third+crossing+bridge+designs+unveiled+at+open+house