City hall committee recommends Mill Creek bridge replacements, daylighting creek

City councillors in Edmonton have rejected a proposal by the Paths for People group to close a section of 76 Avenue to vehicle traffic.

Replacement for a historic trestle bridge over a southside creek and construction of a bridge to replace a culvert cleared an Edmonton city hall hurdle on Tuesday.

The urban planning committee voted to recommend to city council it approve a report and an assessment outlining the replacement of the Mill Creek trestle bridge, to build a separate bridge for road traffic on 76 Avenue to replace a culvert, and to realign the creek to address erosion and slope stability concerns.

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City staff have been recommending the replacement of the trestle bridge, which was built in 1902 as part of a rail line that connected the then-separate communities of Strathcona and Edmonton, as the now-pedestrian crossing is at the end of its service life.

If city council ultimately approves the project, the bridge would be replaced by one that represents it as much as possible while using modern safety and design standards, according to reports.

The project would also see the culvert that runs underneath 76 Avenue removed and replaced with a vehicle traffic bridge along with realigning and daylighting Mill Creek. Staff said in its report the culvert helps cause soil erosion and slope instability in the Mill Creek ravine.

During public presentation time set aside during the meeting, Paths for People – a local advocate group that seeks improved pedestrian options – reiterated its argument, first suggested last winter, that the road bridge wasn’t needed and urged the committee to close the road to vehicle traffic.

But the committee – made up of councillors Michael Janz, Andrew Knack, Jennifer Rice and Jo-Anne Wright along with Mayor Amarjeet Sohi – voted unanimously to recommend city council approve the plan, saying input from the leaders of the five surrounding community leagues advocating for the road to stay open influenced their decision.

“What I heard fairly strongly from most of those residents is to still have that connectivity, from a group of communities that is very actively in desire of more active transportation, more mobility options,” Knack said on Tuesday.

Construction of the bridge is slated to start later this year.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson