For Immediate Release: August 31, 2010
IS10-308
The pedestrian walkway on the Senator Sid Buckwold Bridge (Idylwyld Freeway Bridge) is now open. Temporary arrangements have been made to open it to help pedestrians and cyclists cross the river easier due to the unexpected closure of the Traffic Bridge. The temporary access to the walkway is not wheelchair accessible, as the walkway will be accessed from the existing staircase on the south end of the Bridge. Cyclists will need to carry their bicycles up or down the stairs. Pedestrians with strollers may want to consider using the Broadway Bridge as an alternative.
Pedestrian access to the walkway is from the west side of the Bridge only near the intersection of Saskatchewan Crescent and Idylwyld Crescent. Access from the east side of the Bridge from Rotary Park is not possible at this time due to construction of the new sanitary sewer lift station at this location. Saskatchewan Crescent between McPherson Avenue and Idylwyld Crescent will remain closed to both traffic and pedestrians.
Pedestrians heading west along Saskatchewan Crescent, or passing through Rotary Park on the MVA trail, will need to travel south on McPherson Avenue to 11th Street to the pedestrian tunnel under the Idylwyld Freeway, then west through the tunnel and then down to the end of Idylwyld Crescent at Saskatchewan Crescent. Signs will be posted along the route indicating the new temporary access route. Portions of the temporary route are adjacent to a busy work zone, and while temporary fencing is in place to enclose it, pedestrians are asked to follow the posted signs and for their own safety, stay out of the work zone.
Construction of the new sanitary sewer lift station in Rotary Park, along with new accessible compliant pathways leading up to the walkway on the Senator Sid Buckwold Bridge, is expected to be completed in late fall.