City unveils design of new pedestrian bridge
Plans for the new Keating Channel pedestrian bridge that will connect downtown to Villiers Island include an S-shaped figure under a fanned arch, a $12-million bill and a 2026 completion date, the city revealed Monday.
Named the Equinox Bridge, the 120-metre pedestrian overpass will link future neighbourhoods like Quayside (Queens Quay and Parliament) by minutes to the new housing and green space planned for what’s currently dubbed Villiers Island, Toronto’s emerging waterfront neighbourhood. (Villiers Island may get a new Indigenous moniker.)
“People (can be) walking, jogging, cycling, rollerblading across this new bridge to access more parks, more waterfront and trails along the Don River,” said Mayor Olivia Chow. She was joined by local Coun. Paula Fletcher, a team of Waterfront Toronto representatives and Chief of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation Claire Sault at the spot where the bridge will reach the mainland near 333 Lakeshore Blvd. E.
There’s another bridge that crosses the Keating Channel at Cherry Street but it is dedicated to a future transit line into the Port Lands. The new bridge revealed Monday will be dedicated to pedestrians and cyclists. Of the $12 million it will cost to construct the pedestrian bridge, the federal government is footing $9 million, Chow said.
The model of the Equinox Bridge revealed Monday showed an Sshaped arch bridge connected by an array of fanning cables. The orientation of the bridge’s curves is meant to align with the summer solstice sunset and the winter solstice sunrise.
There is also a lighting design that will show four star constellations significant to the local Indigenous communities. The constellations are yet to be confirmed, but may include The Fisher (Ursa Major), The Loon (Ursa Minor), Wintermaker (Orion) and Sweat Lodge (Corona Borealis).
“I’m so excited about our contribution to the visibility and wellbeing of First Nations, Inuit (and) Métis peoples in Toronto that honours the Indigenous ways of knowing and being,” Sault said.
The winning design was created by a team that includes U.K.-based architect firm WilkinsonEyre, local architect Zeidler Architecture and Indigenous consultants Two Row Architect. According to Waterfront Toronto’s chief planning and design officer, Chris Glaisek, the winner of the design competition was picked based on criteria that included architectural excellence, Indigenous integration and sustainability, among others.
The bridge’s design “was not only very elegant and beautiful, but also stitched itself quite well into both sides of the land to make a very seamless connection between this space and the other space,” he said.
Construction is expected to begin late this year or early next year.