[URBAN NOTE] "Pickering pedestrian bridge ran into trouble early on"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Azzura Lalani describes Metrolinx's dispiriting venture into building a pedestrian bridge in Pickering.

It began as a lofty venture to give pedestrians a walkway above 14 lanes of highway, linking the GO station south of Hwy. 401 to downtown Pickering north of the highway.

The pedestrian bridge was supposed to be a sleek statement for Pickering, a functional and beautiful bridge that would glow at night with LED lighting.

More than five years after the bridge was supposed to be completed, it is still unfinished and Metrolinx still doesn’t know when it will be.

Dozens of curved metal panels are stacked up with rope along the bridge, outside the glass windows of the catwalk.

“Construction will resume once the contractor is ready to move ahead on all of the structure’s components: the structural steel, the metal cladding and the exterior lighting system,” said Anne Marie Aikins, a spokesperson for Metrolinx.