Ongoing Calgarians complaining about pedestrian bridges thread

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

The Water Centre should have been Red... like the Flames!

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

And poetry!

Sadly it is outside the "latte inclusion zone".

[Addick]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

I agree with EE that it doesn't look like it fits in. And perhaps that's a good thing but I question if a bridge is the right place to start and invest in a change in how a city looks.

It is an excellent place to start or continue a movement for two reasons:

1. It is a public project and as the City has a vested interest in the city they, unlike the private sector, have sufficient motivation to take the lead and push architectural quality forward.
2. A great city is a sum of all of its great parts of which buildings, bridges, and even bus shelters are included. Buildings often take the spotlight but the other portions are just as important. Consequently, if you are starting a movement picking a project that will show the holistic nature of the movement is a solid move.

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

The bridge does little to move traffic in and out of downtown, and I'll probably only use if if I go way out of my way to use it, just like the majority of cyclists coming from the north.

Traffic separation.

Cyclists will flock to this bridge as, unlike its neighbours, it will separate pedestrian traffic from cycle and drastically improve both traffic flows.

[VladtheImpaler]

Does anyone have a pic of the bridge and the environs or a link to one? Preferably from a distance so that I can see what it looks like in the context of the surrounding area. I have not had a chance to see for myself.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Does anyone have a pic of the bridge and the environs or a link to one? Preferably from a distance so that I can see what it looks like in the context of the surrounding area. I have not had a chance to see for myself.

The best overview I could find:

[moncton golden flames]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

The Calgary Water Centre was also designed to collect and retain rainwater for re-use.

how exactly does it collect water? i haven't seen any collection system attached to any of the roof structure.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by moncton golden flames

how exactly does it collect water? i haven't seen any collection system attached to any of the roof structure.

Email the city, they'll be able to tell you. Or email the architect. His name is Jeremy Sturgess.

[Rhettzky]

You can kind of see here that the roof drainage goes into those three long 'poles' and the water discharges into those kind of fancy swales. The swales take the water to three holding ponds in the rear yard. There is also a large under ground, rain water cistern that I think is for irrigation purposes or grey water, not entirely sure but I know they had to get water trucks to fill it up a few times because not enough runoff water was making it to the storage system.

[kevman]

Originally Posted by Addick

Cyclists will flock to this bridge as, unlike its neighbours, it will separate pedestrian traffic from cycle and drastically improve both traffic flows.

Will they though?

I've noticed that most cyclists tend to come downtown on the south side of the river after crossing at Edworthy or under Crowchild. Furthermore in the winter the ice damn closes the north side of the pathway under the Louise bridge and forces more people to cross early or wait at a traffic light. Coupled with the fact there is no crosswalk at Memorial it really is a dead end bridge that I can't help but feel is in a terrible location.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by kevman

Will they though?

I've noticed that most cyclists tend to come downtown on the south side of the river after crossing at Edworthy or under Crowchild. Furthermore in the winter the ice damn closes the north side of the pathway under the Louise bridge and forces more people to cross early or wait at a traffic light. Coupled with the fact there is no crosswalk at Memorial it really is a dead end bridge that I can't help but feel is in a terrible location.

There are riders that don't live on the West side of Crowchild....

Langevin is narrow and terrible, and the Prince's Island bridge is packed in summer. I'll be making a daily trek West to get to the Peace Bridge for my commute home to the East.

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by Ben_in_Canada

I finally saw this bridge for the first time on the weekend.
Looks like a large chinese finger trap

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Ok, I'll put it out there, I'm not in love with the bridge look, it doesn't do anything to iinspire me at all

I hated the process that took place to get it built.

[frinkprof]

A certain CPer weighs in on this article. One could say he's hit the big time.

Calgarians making peace with Peace Bridge as opening date nears



Buzz before opening stifles outrage over costs, delays



By Jason Markusoff, Calgary Herald March 19, 2012 6:04 AM

When graphic designer Rick Thomas designed a black, red and white T-shirt to mark this weekend’s Peace Bridge opening, he planned an order of around 20, for friends, Druh Farrell supporters and maybe a few architecture buffs.


Today, he’s at the silkscreening shop to view some of the 310 shirts ordered.


“There are obviously a lot of supporters out there who are willing to throw down money and buy a shirt to wear on the opening day, and that’s cool,” he said.


Something else unexpected happened in recent weeks to corporate headhunter Tim Hamilton, who’s always looking for ways to sell life in Calgary.


One out-of-town recruit, without any prompting, mentioned her affection for that new red bridge stretched across the Bow River. Then another did. And a third.



[...]

Link to the rest of the article

[Bigtime]

Sheesh, that Aaron guy sounds like a real piece of work, making light of the term "latte-sipping elitist". Doesn't he know it's supposed to hurt his feelings?

[Muta]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Sheesh, that Aaron guy sounds like a real piece of work, making light of the term "latte-sipping elitist". Doesn't he know it's supposed to hurt his feelings?

Hahaha... on the flip side, atleast he isn't a 'gas-guzzling subarbanite', you know - the ones spewing the most vitriol beneath the article.

[Cscutch]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

A certain CPer weighs in on this article. One could say he's hit the big time.

Link to the rest of the article

I find the numbers of users in the article the interesting point. I don't know how close they will be with there 5000 per day estimate but if it is correct.

It will have more daily users than the Talisman Centre:

http://agendaminutes.calgary.ca/sirepub/cache/2/0nzfymz0tjucnw55qcyk5w2p/5995703192012014755300.PDF"]2011 Annual Report

"Talisman Centre is the very embodiment of this statement and delivers on it every day. Daily traffic (including members, sport partners, program participants and guests) averages 4000 people - some 1.5 million annually."

And just under the 2010 City wide usage for all City ran facilities (Aprox 5400):

2010 Parks and Rec Report

"Calgarians made almost two million visits to Recreation facilities in 2010. Admissions and pass scans have increased by 11 and 7 per cent respectively over the past five years."

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by Cscutch

I find the numbers of users in the article the interesting point. I don't know how close they will be with there 5000 per day estimate but if it is correct.

It will have more daily users than the Talisman Centre:

http://agendaminutes.calgary.ca/sirepub/cache/2/0nzfymz0tjucnw55qcyk5w2p/5995703192012014755300.PDF"]2011 Annual Report

"Talisman Centre is the very embodiment of this statement and delivers on it every day. Daily traffic (including members, sport partners, program participants and guests) averages 4000 people - some 1.5 million annually."

And just under the 2010 City wide usage for all City ran facilities (Aprox 5400):

2010 Parks and Rec Report

"Calgarians made almost two million visits to Recreation facilities in 2010. Admissions and pass scans have increased by 11 and 7 per cent respectively over the past five years."

Kind of an arbitrary thing to compare it to, no? It's like comparing apples to neckties.

On the traffic we'll see though, I'll call it now. The first weekday the bridge is open there will be an article plus editorials in both the Sun and Herald. I have no idea if it will be crowded or deserted on its first day or week, but if it isn't crowded, editorials will call it a failure. If it is they will have to work a little harder on the spin and/or focus on other aspects (traffic on nearby bridges, any noticeable things that trades still have to touch up, etc.) but the light will be negative. Most of it has already been written and is just waiting for exact details to fill in the blanks. Rick Bell and Michael Platt likely already have a couple of draft Peace Bridge editorials in the can just waiting for the opening and/or a slow newsday.

Thing is that it's going to take more than a day or week for noticeable changes to take place. 5000 (or 10 000 or whatever) people don't just show up to a new bridge, road, bike path or bus route ready to use it for their commute on day one. Year one, perhaps. Induced demand and all.

[Table 5]

I'm going to spend the next week running back and forth on the bridge just to juke the stats to spite Rick Bell.

[Cscutch]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

Kind of an arbitrary thing to compare it to, no? It's like comparing apples to neckties.

On the traffic we'll see though, I'll call it now. The first weekday the bridge is open there will be an article plus editorials in both the Sun and Herald. I have no idea if it will be crowded or deserted on its first day or week, but if it isn't crowded, editorials will call it a failure. If it is they will have to work a little harder on the spin and/or focus on other aspects (traffic on nearby bridges, any noticeable things that trades still have to touch up, etc.) but the light will be negative. Most of it has already been written and is just waiting for exact details to fill in the blanks. Rick Bell and Michael Platt likely already have a couple of draft Peace Bridge editorials in the can just waiting for the opening and/or a slow newsday.

Thing is that it's going to take more than a day or week for noticeable changes to take place. 5000 (or 10 000 or whatever) people don't just show up to a new bridge, road, bike path or bus route ready to use it for their commute on day one. Year one, perhaps. Induced demand and all.

I think it is just interesting in looking at some data. 25m for a pedestrian bridge is wasting money but 100m for rec centres that if the numbers are correct could have less daily users then the bridge is justifiable. Just for the record I support both.

[SebC]

We can't fully appreciate the bridge until the people of Sunnyside take their heads out of their butts and move the damn pedestrian crossing on Memorial!

[worth]

So where can I park?