No walkway access, another near miss at lift bridge
By Paul Morse
The Hamilton Spectator
The father and his little boy were easy to spot a distance down the Waterfront Trail as they pedalled happily toward the Burlington lift bridge.
The crossing has long been dangerous for cyclists, who must dash across the four-lane road to the relative safety of the pedestrian sidewalk on the bridge's inland side, but Bill Nazar, 34, faced a significantly more dangerous problem yesterday.
The sidewalk was closed.
Because of some buckled concrete on the walkway, pedestrians are not allowed to cross the bridge for the next 14 days. And all cyclists have to ride across with the cars and trucks.
For long minutes as traffic roared across the bridge's steel mesh deck, Nazar waited, unsure of the safest way across with five-year-old Ben, riding a tag-a-long bicycle attached to his mountain bike.
Finally, the Burlington man decided to dismount and walk across, pressed as tightly as possible against its metalworks.
The lift bridge, over the Burlington shipping canal, is owned and operated by the federal government, which shut off all pedestrian access to the bridge when the recent warm weather buckled the concrete under the sidewalk.
But the Eastport Drive bridge is the link between the 8.5-kilometre Hamilton Beach Trail and Burlington's trail that runs to Spencer Smith Park and beyond.
Hidden in girder shadow, little Ben ran in front of his dad with traffic heading directly at them. A transport truck saw them late and swerved into the centre lane.
Nazar and his boy bolted for the end of the bridge and jumped the road barrier as soon as they could.
"That was awful," a subdued Nazar said. "I shouldn't have done it. It was totally unsafe."
Two years ago, a Hamilton cyclist was killed when he was struck by a transport truck as he crossed Eastport to walk his bike across the bridge sidewalk.
So how does Ottawa expect Waterfront Trail users to get across the bridge while it fixes the sidewalk?
"We are asking that they take a vehicle across, or if they are on a bicycle they can cross the roadway using the rules of the road as set out by the Ministry of Transportation," said Heather Grondin, spokesperson for Public Works and Government Services Canada.
Security personnel will be stationed at either end of the bridge on weekends to warn trail users, she said.
Hamilton police, who did not receive a heads-up from Public Works Canada, plan to take a closer look.
The closure doesn't sit well with Burlington's cycling committee.
"We are most unhappy about this, especially because there has been no provision to allow cyclists or pedestrians to cross safely on the bridge deck," said Doug Brown.
Public Works cannot simply cordon off one bridge lane with pylons for a temporary walkway, Grondin said, because under transport regulations, Eastport Drive is treated similar to Series 400 highways.
Burlington Mayor Rob MacIsaac, who said Ottawa has "a duty of care" to everyone who uses the bridge, plans to raise the issue with Burlington MP Paddy Torsney.
pmorse@thespec.com 905-526-3434
Photo;
Gary Yokoyama, the Hamilton Spectator
The pedestrian walkway at the Burlington lift bridge is closed to walkers and bike riders who have to dodge vehicular traffic to get across.
