Pedestrian bridge proposal takes another hit
It was pitched as a big idea to help people ride transit. Why not span the Highway 85 expressway with a pedestrian bridge to directly connect thousands of future residents to the nearest Ion rail transit station?
A promotional video released in 2021 shows cyclists and pedestrians using the bridge to access the Northfield station that’s less than 500 metres from their homes, which are to be built on the site of the former Kraus carpet factory in Waterloo.
The first blow came from the Ministry of Transportation, which operates the expressway and deemed the pedestrian bridge unnecessary in rejecting it.
The ministry concluded that people can use the current Northfield Drive bridge to reach the train station from the Kraus site. The current bridge provides sidewalks and cycling lanes above the expressway.
However, the current bridge also carries trains and traffic.
A city hall report concluded that pedestrians and cyclists may be dissuaded from crossing on it, preferring a friendlier way to access transit.
In December, when Waterloo council approved the Kraus housing project, city hall sought to keep the idea of the pedestrian bridge alive, hoping the transportation ministry might be persuaded to reverse its opposition.
But now the bridge proposal has taken another hit, this time from developer Solowave Investments, which bought the Kraus property in 2022.
In January, the developer asked a provincial planning tribunal to overrule city-imposed conditions meant to “protect for a potential pedestrian bridge over the Conestoga Parkway,” according to lawyer Jennifer Meader, acting for Solowave.
That’s because the transportation ministry rejected the bridge and because “the city has recently suggested that (the developer) would be responsible for 50 per cent of the costs,” Meader wrote.
Solowave now intends to exclude lands from its housing project that would have been used for the expressway bridge.
Twelve residential towers proposed on the Kraus site are among 40 residential towers that Waterloo developers have put before the Ontario Land Tribunal for approval. The tribunal rules on planning disputes.
The Kraus housing development could be home to more than 6,000 people. It’s currently planned at 3,353 units and it could take 15 years to complete, the developer says. Towers range from 18 to 35 storeys.
If future residents choose not to access the Northfield transit station by crossing the expressway on the current bridge, their next-closest option is the Ion station at the Conestoga Mall.
The Conestoga station is about 500 metres from the Kraus development as the crow flies, but current walking distances are closer to 900 metres, at the outer edge of what’s considered feasible for transit passengers.