Advocates promote need for new Louise Bridge
An awareness campaign on the need to replace an aging Winnipeg bridge continues eight years after local two politicians came together to promote the issue.
Jason Schreyer, the city councillor for Elmwood-East Kildonan, and Jim Maloway, the NDP MLA for Elmwood, first put together an information pamphlet on the Louise Bridge and advocated for its replacement in 2014.
On Saturday, Schreyer was back at it, with a new pamphlet but an old message: the need for provincial and federal funding for a Louise Bridge replacement.
He was joined by other concerned citizens near the bridge, handing out information and relaying the importance of one of Winnipeg’s oldest river crossings.
“We’re just reminding all levels of government that this is important,” said Schreyer. “It’s so important that they built this bridge first. That’s how important it is.”
Schreyer said the Louise Bridge, as it stands today, rests on crumbling footings in the Red River and is in need of replacement.
“Despite all the projects enhancing our infrastructure maintaining your infrastructure is the best you can do,” said Schreyer.
The Louise Bridge replacement has now been tethered to two other city development projects, according to Schreyer, the first being an eastern transit corridor into Transcona with the other being a reconfiguration of local traffic in the area.
“The engineers at city hall knew that we had to deal with the bridge sooner or later but politics can get in the way of engineering and this was deprioritized for a while,” said Schreyer.
“This is not about political priorities, this is about engineering priorities and important infrastructure.”
Now that the bridge project is linked to other city development plans, Schreyer said getting a new bridge is inevitable, but government funding is still needed.
“Regardless of what they do first, whether it’s the transit corridor to Transcona or changing the transportation and street routing here,” sad Schreyer. “First things first you still need a new Louise Bridge and then all can spring from there.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'The world is too messy for bureaucratic hurdles': Canada still bars Afghanistan aid
Ottawa has plans to finally stop blocking Canadian development aid to Afghanistan this year.
Student anti-war protesters dig in as faculties condemn university leadership over calling police
Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war at at universities across U.S., some of whom have clashed with police in riot gear, dug in Saturday and vowed to keep their demonstrations going, while several school faculties condemned university presidents who have called in law enforcement to remove protesters.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Hamas is reviewing an Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, as possible Rafah offensive looms
Hamas said Saturday it was reviewing a new Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, as Egypt intensified efforts to broker a deal to end the months-long war and stave off a possible Israeli ground offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'oesn't get' the global phenomenom.
opinion RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy and its potential threat to Biden and Trump
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Russia renews attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector as Kyiv launches drones at southern Russia
Russia launched a barrage of missiles against Ukraine overnight, in attacks that appeared to target the country's energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, Russia said its air defense systems had intercepted more than 60 Ukrainian drones over the southern Krasnodar region.