I promised myself I鈥檇 stay out of the Courtenay Pedestrian Bridge fiasco because it was such a stupid idea from the get-go, but now I鈥檓 involved!
This "Bridge from Nowhere to Nowhere" as I like to call it, is to be at the bottom of 6th Street, and I dare other local residents to walk down this street. As a local business owner (Gillmore Coins and Collectibles) I walk along Anderton Avenue several times a week, using the mandatory "under the bridge" pathway that never gets power-washed, on my way to delivering packages to the Home Hardware Postal Office.
There is only one sidewalk coming down the steep 6th Street hill, the traffic is either trucks careening to the hardware store, or cars racing to right turn onto the 5th Street bridge. No tourist ever walks here, period. It's an extremely busy intersection where no child should ever be walking, and anyways, where exactly do we expect these tourists will be walking to? Simms Park? Why? There's nothing there most days of the year except an empty bandstand.
Solution? Incorporate a new pedestrian bridge, (if the vote reflects a majority of our population actually want this bridge), into the upcoming wall repairs on the north side of the 5th Street bridge. Once the old hostel and sinking apartment block are demolished, and before the new retaining wall is built, just install a new bridge from Lewis Park to the Riverside Fit Park.
Both Lewis Park and the Riverside Fit Park have much more happening, and are far more active than Simms; it鈥檚 closer to downtown, river swimming access, plenty of sports activities, the Sid Williams, Gladstones, Courtenay Museum and the Florence Filbert Centre, just to name a few. And bonus, there鈥檚 no trees to cut down on either side of the river, check it out and decide for yourselves, and please, do get involved!
Paul Gillmore
Courtenay
