The sad story of an abandoned bridge

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This article was published 10/09/2018 (2894 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I remember when I was young and walked back and forth to school every day. Sometimes I’d cut through fields of wildflowers and tall grasses. Sometimes I’d wander through pleasant, tree-filled neighbourhoods.

But that was then. Today it is not unusual for kids to be driven to school from a young age. 

More’s the pity. I miss them. I wish the city was more walkable. We have lost so much that is valuable in our quest to get everywhere faster and faster.

There’s so much more that can be done to make our city more beautiful, enjoyable and suitable for walking (or biking).

One thing that comes to mind is the abandoned bridge spanning the Red River which can be seen while walking through beautiful Kildonan Park. The Bergen Cut-Off Bridge is an unused steel train bridge that was built in 1913 for the Canadian Pacific Railway.

It has not been used actively since 1928, according to the Manitoba Historical Society. Apparently, it is only wide enough for one lane of traffic and too costly to turn into a bridge for vehicles. But why not turn it into a pedestrian bridge?

According to the MHS, a local businessman and an architect proposed a housing development on the east side of the river as well as a restaurant and a pedestrian walkway on the bridge in the 1980s but residents on the east side wanted to remain undeveloped and so opposed the plan.

I can understand the east-side residents not wanting development along the river bank there, for that area has to be one of the most natural, untouched and beautiful green spaces in the city. Its loveliness has never ceased to amaze me.

But a simple walking bridge would also be lovely, allowing people to stroll from Kildonan Park to the beautiful walking path on the east side while folks on the east side could wander across and visit the flower gardens, Rainbow Stage or dine in the restaurant in the park.

Jubilee Avenue is famous for its “BDI Bridge”(a.k.a. the Elm Park Bridge) where people can buy ice-cream and stroll across the Red River to Kingston Crescent. Assiniboine Park has an extremely popular walking bridge connecting folks from Portage Avenue to the park.

The Forks has the Esplanade Riel connecting downtown with St. Boniface by foot. And this spring the city proposed a new pedestrian bridge over the Assiniboine River connecting Osborne Village to downtown.

Walking adds amazing benefits to our health and our environment and walkways add tremendously to the beauty of our city so why not revive a neglected bridge and create a famous historic landmark in our beautiful Kildonan area?

Cheryl Girard is a community correspondent for West Kildonan. You can contact her at girard.cheryl@gmail.com

Cheryl Girard
West Kildonan community correspondent

Cheryl Girard was a community correspondent for West Kildonan.

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