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TIM SMITH/THE BRANDON SUN Sam van Huizen, a Community Planner with the City of Brandon, speaks during a community meeting at the North End Community Centre on Tuesday concerning transportation options after the Eighth Street bridge is demolished. Many residents, however, argued the bridge should not be demolished.

A public consultation meant to gather feedback about a future pedestrian bridge, veered off path when North End residents criticized the decision to demolish the Eighth Street bridge.

Roughly 50 people attended the meeting at the North End Community Centre. When it came time for questions, some residents asked why it needed to be torn down, others suggested it could just be repaired and save on the costs of demolition.

Coun. Kris Desjarlais (Rosser) spoke up to get the message across that the decision has already been made, and demolition is going ahead.

"City council made the decision based on well over a year, and hours and hours of discussion from consultants, from experts, from engineers," Desjarlais said. "Now is an opportunity for us to think a little bit about the future of our city and what kind of bridge we want and what we can afford. An active transport/pedestrian bridge is what we are looking forward to, and I hope that we give this conversation an opportunity tonight."

Judy Hont lives in the North End and relies on the Eighth Street bridge on a regular basis. She uses a wheelchair or scooter to get around, which has its challenges.

"I’m in a panic now because I think they’re thinking they can just take it down any time," Hont said. She is hoping the city will help with Handi-Transit costs.

Sharon Rogowski does not have a vehicle, so she walks, bikes or takes the bus. She is urging Brandon Transit to increase bus service to help residents in the area during the time of demolition and subsequent construction.

"I’m willing to have an inconvenience, as long as the City of Brandon provides bus service not just hourly — hourly isn’t going to cut it," she said. "When its minus 40 I don’t want to go from where I’m living and walk an extra 10 or 12 blocks if I don’t have to."

The demolition contract for the bridge was awarded in March to Shawn Anderson Demolition & Construction Ltd. for $562,219. It is expected to cost $825,000 when the additional costs of site supervision, removal of street lights, engineering and contingency are factored in.

The deteriorating Eighth Street bridge has been closed to traffic since July 2015. Constructed in 1934 and updated in 1968, the bridge was determined to have advanced deterioration in a 2012 bridge assessment. Engineers later found it was even worse than originally thought.

Officials have stated the demolition process is expected to begin within the next two months. The deadline for completion is Sept. 30.

City staff gathered feedback in smaller break-out groups on four topics: structure and design; accessibility; width and length; and amenities.

Community planner Sam van Huizen said they will compile data over the next two weeks and come up with some options to present at another public consultation on May 13. It will be held at the North End Community Centre from 10 a.m to noon.

"They’ll be able to take a look at some visuals of real world bridges and provide additional feedback. Then from there we’ll be passing it off to the consultant to make conceptual designs," he said, adding the goal is to create three pedestrian bridge options.

In terms of amenities, van Huizen said he heard a lot of comments about function over frills.

"Although amenities are important, and I’m a proponent for making something look nice, residents clearly just want a bridge," he said.

By September, the plan is to present conceptual design options to the public, followed by a council decision in October.

While there weren’t set budgets presented for the pedestrian bridge, city staff said the lower end would be in the range of $5-$6 million, but a more likely budget would be in the $8-$10-million range.

North End resident Jean Halliday expressed concern about the timelines, and suggested the demolition shouldn’t take place until it’s replacement is planned.

Construction would be a "fairly long process" according to Aaron Kaluzniak, manager of infrastructure, but they would try to accelerate the process.

» jaustin@brandonsun.com

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