Dazzling Walterdale Bridge well worth the wait
Too much money, too fancy, too complicated, too slow to build, not enough lanes, a white elephant in the making.
Yes, there’s been no shortage of doubts, criticism and invective about the new $155-million Walterdale Bridge.
But we’re about to fall in love with this dazzling and delicate structure, I strongly suspect.
It took two years longer than expected due to steel supplychain issues and the difficulty of the build, one that was compared to assembling a puzzle out of 125-tonne misshapen pieces.
But the cost, effort and wait were worth it.
Now that the supply and construction troubles are yesterday’s headaches, and the old Walterdale has been demolished, and both the traffic and pedestrian portions of the new bridge are open, and the lighting system is fully operational, the beautiful lines and strong functionality of the arched bridge shine through.
Josh Kjenner of Battersby Howat Architects says if you compare this bridge to any of the other major pieces of traffic infrastructure built here in the last 10 or 15 years, such as the 23 Avenue overpass or the Henday interchange, the Walterdale is in its own class.
“This does what it sets out to do in pragmatic terms … But there’s a degree of esthetic refinement on this bridge that just doesn’t exist on those other pieces of infrastructure, and I think that is great,” Kjenner says.
“Obviously, not every bridge is going to be this signature beautiful span, but just the fact they’ve put a lot of thought into how does a pedestrian cross this thing ? How are we going to detail these railings? We have the structural span we have to make, but how can we do it in a way that has some kind of expressive quality?”
I point out to Kjenner that when you cross many modern bridges, the guard walls are so high that you can’t even tell you’re crossing a river and you miss out on that beautiful sight. But that’s not the case on the new Walterdale.
He agrees. “Every time I drive across one of those bridges, I’m always looking, as if it’s going to be different this time. Because I want to see (the river). This is nice in that regard.”
There’s negative associations of municipal bungling around the bridge, Kjenner says, but the finished product works for Edmonton.
“I think it’s a pretty good mix of pragmatism with a little bit of expressiveness,” he says. “If you compare it to the Peace Bridge in Calgary, I’ve walked across it and it’s a nice bridge, but it’s (Spanish starchitect) Santiago Calatrava, so it’s super, super expressive and intricate. This is a little more Edmonton — it’s got this kind of robustness to it and it’s a little bit more expressive than a regular concrete bridge. But it’s not quite as frilly as that Calatrava bridge.”
While city council ruined the pleasure of walking across the High Level Bridge — turning the multi-use path into a cramped, dangerous cage because it cheaped out building new suicide barriers — the Walterdale has a wide pedestrian path on its west side and an even wider multi-use pedestrian corridor suspended off the east side, one that is also comfortably removed from the grit and noise of traffic.
The new Walterdale makes a fine partner and foil to the High Level Bridge, says Jan Pierzchajlo of RPK Architects. The two are opposites but also complementary, the dark, straight lines and massiveness of the High Level set against the light, curves and elegance of the Walterdale.
“They are beautiful in how they kind of have this conversation between each other,” Pierzchajlo says. “The young and the beautiful, and the old and the brutally ugly, but it’s so ugly that it’s beautiful.
ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS
“The High Level is maybe one of the most masculine structures you can find in Edmonton and the Walterdale might be one of the most feminine structures you can find in Edmonton — just it’s beautiful curve. I love this (new) bridge. I think it’s absolutely gorgeous.”
The fact that the Walterdale was two years late opening is ultimately not important, Pierzchajlo says: “Nobody wants to see things over-budget or delayed, but through the filter of time, nobody will remember that.”
In the end, we got it right with the new Walterdale.
The last major vehicular bridge we built downtown was the James MacDonald Bridge in 1971, a massive, ugly bridge where you can’t see the river and there’s no room for pedestrians.
We’ve come a long way from there, as the new Walterdale, the Lady of the Valley, attests.