IDEA Series - Red Bridge as Multi Use Path linking Overlander Park and Riverside Park

 Ah yes - yee old Red Bridge. Featured on socks, pictured in post cards. The Trestle Bridge; once a hallmark of Canada, especially the West, these trestle bridges are becoming more rare, but also nearing the end of their useful life. At the time they were built (1936 in this case), they were marvels of vernacular engineering. Meaning they were built with materials that were present where the structure was being built. Today we import materials from all over the world to construct something - but these bridges were built with materials found near to the site, and assembled in a brilliant way for material conservation. This type of timber framing is simple, incredibly strong, flexible and resilient - and constructed nearly by hand.

In any case, the Red Bridge will reach a time where it needs to be replaced. Its narrow roadway between 17' and 18'9" wide, and its load capacity, do not line up with the industrial traffic the Mt Paul Industrial Park that the bridge accesses really needs. I have of course argued for much narrower lanes for traffic calming all over town, and it is anecdotally interesting to note that this bridge carrying heavy traffic all day is more than 5' narrower than the minimum permitted right of way on any modern street. In places in which we want slow traffic, 18' is plenty. But accessing a Industrial Park it is clearly lacking (*though for the residential on the south end of the Red Bridge is probably does have a positive effect of deterring heavy vehicle traffic on Lorne).

So lets arrive at the point here. The access from Downtown to the Mt Paul Industrial Park will need to be preserved, perhaps even expanded and improved. Further - linking some of our highest concentrations of jobs in the industrial park, to some of the highest densities of residents downtown by Alternative Transit, like a dedicated bike lane(s) would probably be relatively well utilized - and something that currently does not even remotely exist. 

My proposal is to move, lengthen and re-engineer the Red Bridge to link Riverside Park and Overlanders Park on the North Shore. The span from Riverside to Overlanders is 429m compared to its current run of 375m. Thankfully this actually affords an opportunity for some more modern pedestals to shorten the span and bring the new in with the old. 

I have found a creative designer can make marvels when incorporating a piece of heritage into a new construction - and this sort of "Scarchitecture" - ensuring that elements of the past are incorporated into our present can be combined for stunning effect. Heritage combined with current era designs (future heritage) help us tell stories about the history of our places and people. 

combining the new with the old in Kings Cross, London

The utility of this bridge would be large for pleasure use, tourist use and commuter use. The North Shore has two branches of the Rivers Trail, running nearly dedicated bike routes as far as the Airport (to be completed 2024) and to Westsyde. It is the "last mile" to Downtown where Alternative Transportation connectivity really falls apart, and acts as a huge barrier to utilization. The current situation of a sketchy, narrow, bumpy and slippery path beside the high traffic bridge nearly requires you to walk single file as two abreast cannot be over taken from behind. And if someone is behind you, you cannot hear them over the traffic. This leads to the uncomfortable situation of constantly looking over your shoulder, or be nearly toppled over by a passing cyclist or runner with no warning.

This section is followed by a multi-use path sandwiched between barbwire fences, trains, and bushes filled with squatters which is hidden from view of anyone is hardly a comfortable place to ride or walk through even for the most committed and bold. Anyone who has utilized this path by bike or foot is well familiar with how uncomfortable it is in many dimensions. In the dark this area is barely lit with tons of dark areas that would make anyone uncomfortable.

A wide, 18'+ wide pedestrian path that connects one large and open park to another, in a straight line - away from vehicle traffic - with no bottle necks and unobservable sketch zones - would be a gazillion fold improvement to the connectivity of Downtown to the North Shore by foot or bike. 

Similarly proportioned multi-use path-bridges in Edmonton's river valley are testament to utilization when the proportions feel more safe. CPTED - Community Protection Through Environmental Design - a crime prevention strategy implemented by City and RCMP with development and construction - would identify the current pathway as a veritable invitation to crime. The current pathway currently informally named Angel Way, breaks nearly every CPTED rule, and I feel like I am understating that. When considering this new alignment - some key points here are being able to see "safety" at the other end of the bottle neck, being well lit, and having no cubbies, alcoves or hidey places in the bottleneck. 

So - repurposing the Red Bridge has so far two points in favour - 1) heritage preservation of a special construction method that is becoming more rare and is special to our part of the world and 2) would greatly improve the foot and bike connection from Downtown to the North Shore

In addition, this connection would take the cities largest, and well attended, Overlanders Beach and connect it into our most spectacular park at Riverside - leveraging both spaces for the better. It would create a new landmark right in their centre. A focal point for nearly the whole City. 

There is lots of precedence in Western Canada for projects like this. Quesnel has repurposed a Downtown bridge to similar effect - and Calgary has built a modernist MUP bridge - the Peace Bridge - as part of its premier park system and it has quickly become synonymous with the City itself.

What would it cost? Money of course. The Red Bridge currently is a provincial asset, which means that its replacement will be Provincially funded. This has the benefit of the Province having deeper pockets than the City. But it also comes with the risk of even more politically motivated decision making. The Province too has large(r) budgets earmarked for Heritage Conservation, Adaptive Reuse, Alternative Transit and Tourism Development. This project clearly falls into all these categories - and could easily fall in the scope of the replacement of the Red Bridge in its current right-of-way. That doesn't mean it wouldn't still require a significant amount of advocacy to bundle a new MUP crossing in with the Red Bridges replacement.

There is also significant amounts of under-developed, premier real estate around the parks, especially at the North End of the bridge. The City, for its bit, could work with the developers and property owners, especially SD73 on the Henry Grube site to realize Public-Private Partnership redevelopment that could help to directly fund investments like this, either directly through DCCs, Public Amenity contributions or through Density Bonusing which spurs more value and grows the tax base here forever. 

This is not as straightforward as the direct funding I highlighted for the Gondola Project. The overlay of Province and multiple wildly disconnected departments in the Province (Fisheries, Highways, School Districts) and City and City Departments make all this pretty pie-in-the-sky. But like I said, the fact that whatever happens to the Red Bridge will be a nearly completely political decision, gives it the sense that a roll of the dice that could come up Milhouse in a way that a normal project never could. Where some things are 50/50 political-will/economics. This is like 99/1.

My note would be this. This is THE PREMIER spot in all of Kamloops. The meeting of the waters brings Kamloops its name for millennia. This is The Waterfront spot for the two most important Urban hubs of our City, the North Shore and Downtown. Whatever happens on its shores, especially on the North End of this proposed bridge, will be with us for Decades if not Centuries. This can be the connection point, if not Centre of our City and its two "downtowns", or it can continue to be its biggest barrier. So, lets make sure to do it right. Pedestrian Oriented, especially on the waterfront, with premiere entertainment facilities, park facilities, planting and residential. Something like The Shipyards or Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver (if you haven't been, GO!), Battersea or Coal Drops Yard in London, Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, Seabrook in Washington State, Seaside in Florida. BUT we should not let the perfect get in the way of the good. Like Seaside Florida - work property by property, project by project, building towards what we want to see. The advantage of Government intervention in a project like this is time. Despite the mis-leading name, the following Vancouver video has some fantastic ideas about lively waterfronts - which would be the perfect North Shore counterpart to the park areas of Riverside.

A final soliloquy. Right now Kamloops is on the cusp of graduating into the next class of City. That comes with its risks, its changes and its downsides as well as tremendous upsides and opportunities. As our City becomes busier and more congested - that small town charm is disappearing and will continue to do so. We will need to adopt a new framework of building a more urban, mid-sized city rhetoric. 

The tone of our next step as a City will and can be set by projects like this, and other fictional Mitch projects like the Gondola or First Ave Rain Park. Using Principles like Terminated Vistas. Together these are going to build the new Character of our place. The Government Precinct Redevelopment in Peterson Creek too will be pivotal. What other City can boast building a near greenfield infill district in immediately adjacent to its Downtown, with a creek running through, and Nature Park complete with waterfalls just minutes on foot upstream. 

But building landmark projects combined with mixed-use districts, leveraged by beautiful projects can accelerate Kamloops to the model of mid-sized Cities if we don't get in our own way. We have ample more nature and park opportunities than any one City really deserves, but we have yet to take full advantage of integrating them with our urbanity. With the exception of this project, all others I have suggested can be directly funded by the private sector - the private sector just needs a guide.

Right now we have a bottomless demand for new homes. We are thousands of units short to house all that want/need to live in Kamloops. If we actually manage to make a huge dent in that supply problem, and prices start to slack, and availability increases, it will only drive the wheel of even more folks looking at Kamloops as a great place to live over other places. It would take our province and country catching up on hundreds of thousands of units to actually deflate the macro market. There could be no better time than right now to build hundreds of new housing units right on the edge of a public investment like this creating a feedback loop of new people to utilize these investments - and to finance the investments just through moving into those homes.