Understanding the Black Bridge Railway Overpass Bridge Removal Fiasco

 

 The Black Bridge Railway Overpass Bridge 

NOTE: This was an original post from Sept. 30th, 2004, I have updated.

The Black Bridge Railway Overpass Bridge - Demolished in 2004.

The Black Bridge Railway Overpass Bridge, has been demolished in the last few weeks. The other bridge is the Black Bridge Road Bridge, a designated heritage structure, and the only steel bridge in Cambridge may also one day be removed. The reason is that this one way bridge cannot handle proposed future traffic volumes.

The City of Cambridge made the decision to remove this bridge and replace it with a level crossing. This has proven to be a financial, safety and environmental fiasco for the taxpayers of the City of Cambridge.

1. The Developer of the Subdivision, Mattamy Homes should have paid for the bridge removal and level crossing installation as a part of the subdivision approval process. The developer is supposed to pay for any infrastructure related to their subdivision....

2.A replacement bridge would have been far cheaper but would not fit the needs of the proposed subdivision.

3. The removal of the bridge has went way over budget as the company removing the bridge hit bedrock. Estimates to replace the bridge were $250,000. The final cost to put in the level crossing is already over $500,000.

4. Removal of the bridge has caused groundwater to surface causing continuous flooding in the area and contamination of the ground water.

5. The level crossing is extremely dangerous. There are also short-sight-lines. When frequent GO Train service arrives for Hespeler this will be a dangerous crossing.

Basically, the developer got away with doing nothing. The railway company and city agreed to do the cheap solution that we will regret dearly in the near future.

 

The Black Bridge Road Rail Overpass Bridge, Grade separated no danger of auto/train accident