Bridge renewal vital for Elmwood

Elmwood

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/10/2023 (1046 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With the provincial election over, Manitobans will see how well the elected officials will keep their promises. For residents of Elmwood, returning Elmwood MLA Jim Maloway’s pledge to bring about the reconstruction of the Louise Bridge could become a major factor in their perceptions of the new government.

Much of this past summer in Elmwood, as in many other areas of Winnipeg, was dominated by construction. Access to this northeastern neighbourhood was severely limited by projects that left Johnson and Talbot Avenues partially or entirely inaccessible for months, leaving the Louise Bridge or Provencher Avenue and Archibald Street as the only routes giving access to Elmwood from the south.

Even that access was uncertain due to the age and general state of the Louise Bridge. As the Manitoba Historical Society’s website (www.mhs.mb.ca) notes, the bridge was originally built when the first railway bridge over the Red River, constructed in 1881, became inadequate.

“In 1910, this steel through-truss structure was built as a replacement for the original bridge,” the website website states. The bridge originally had two sets of rails for streetcars but was converted to accommodate vehicle traffic after the streetcar system was decommissioned in 1955.

Since then, the bridge has remained essentially the same despite various repair projects over the years, such as a resurfacing project in 2016 and sidewalk repairs in July 2019.

Still, the bridge is slowly crumbling and becoming unsafe, meaning a complete replacement is required. In October 2021, MLA Maloway reported that plans for replacing the bridge were proceeding well and that the project required only Premier Heather Stefanson’s approval of provincial funding to supplement the City of Winnipeg’s share of the cost. An entirely new bridge would then be built next to the old one to cause as little disruption as possible during construction.

By 2023, the Louise Bridge project had stalled. “Northeast Winnipeggers have been patient but are keenly aware the clock is ticking,” Maloway noted in his October 2021 Free Press article on the subject.

If you’re interested in expressing an opinion on the bridge, a short survey on the Louise Bridge construction project is available at www.yourelmwood.com. For many Elmwood residents, the future of the Louise Bridge and its potential replacement is vitally important.