OUTLOOK - With the SkyTrail walking bridge having closed in October of 2013, many in the community of Outlook and beyond have been curious about the state of the once-popular tourism draw, which carried a reputable trait of being known as the longest pedestrian walking bridge in all of Canada.
When it closed nine years ago, it was shown at the time that the bridge's walking surface had become uneven, crooked, and in need of extensive repair. As well, when seen from underneath, one can see that the bridge structure itself had become troublesome on the east end. At the time, representatives with Associated Engineering (AE) performed a site inspection of the bridge at the request of the Town of Outlook. Based on their findings, the AE firm concluded that the bridge in its current condition was not safe and that it should be closed immediately. The Town followed suit on October 31, and it has been closed ever since.
As well, the Town had asked AE to create a conceptual repair design in order to determine the necessary repairs to the bridge to allow it to reopen again to the public. A report dated April 2014 detailed a number of work items in a cost estimate summary, ultimately revealing that the emergency repairs coupled with comprehensive repairs could be performed for an approximate cost of $5.5 million.
Of course, with that report from Associated Engineering being eight years old now, such information may have become outdated as the cost of materials and labor has only increased over time.
Today, the Town of Outlook is looking at the SkyTrail bridge and trying to tackle the issue of a popular tourism draw sitting abandoned for nearly a decade. Chief Administrative Officer Kevin Trew says the search for a solution has been going on for years.
"The decision to pursue grants for repair of the Skytrail bridge was originally made many, many years ago," said Trew. "Our attention, however, has not been on that area for a number of years."
As the Town has been formulating a strategic plan that will help decide what Outlook will be targeting in the future, Trew says the SkyTrail came up in conversation.
"As you know, this past year, we spent a lot of time working on a strategic plan," he said. "We heard from staff, Council and the general public. While the repair and opening of the Skytrail Bridge was not foremost on everyone’s minds, it was mentioned, more than once. From a Town perspective, we prepared information regarding the risks of NOT doing something with the bridge."
With such an analysis, Trew says that the Town ultimately arrived at the following options for the SkyTrail.
Option 1
Repair the bridge which would make it useable and able to open. It's said that there are many rewards to this option, but the current cost of both repairing it and providing a sustainable maintenance plan over time comes at a price tag of about $6.5 to $13 million. The lowest estimate for repairs came at $5 million with about $1 million invested to install proper monitoring instruments. Trew says that in the same probable cost estimate presented at a previous meeting of Council, they had heard that maintenance of the structure would be between $6,000 and $12,000 annually.
Option 2
In the option of the worst-case scenario, this avenue sees the Town do nothing and wait for a structural failure or a collapse. Trew says this is a huge risk and the cleanup would be very costly, and the accompanying public scrutiny would come at a very high cost to the community. The costs related to this would be in the neighborhood of $35 million to $50 million.
Option 3
This option sees the Town paying to take the bridge down, an initiative that carries a price tag of approximately $35 million.
Trew says that ultimately, the Town decided to pursue avenues of grant funding.
"With this information, Council made the decision that we should actively look for grant funding as the community can not repair the bridge on its own, but the monitoring instruments and annual maintenance are reasonable costs that would be recaptured with the bridge being opened," he said. "Although, the funds recaptured would not be monetized in a direct manner, but rather we think it's a reasonable expectation that the use of the park and draw to other tourism amenities would benefit from the Skytrail Bridge being open."
Trew says that the Town is aiming to be transparent with the public about any grants that may be awarded in relation to the SkyTrail. In the meantime, as Outlook keeps its eyes out for possible funding opportunities, efforts are underway to spruce up a nearby walking trail.
"Council was very clear that, should we be approved for ANY cost sharing grant, we would have to look at the amount that the local taxpayer or donor would be responsible for before signing any documents," explained Trew. "This is a bit premature as funds have not even been solicited as of this date. We are awaiting the 2023 call for the Active Transportation Fund under Infrastructure Canada’s Public Transit Funding. Unfortunately, we had not received all of our information in time to apply for the 2022 iteration of the fund. Of course, we are keeping our eyes open for other opportunities for funding. In the meantime, we are working with the Community Garden group to beautify the walking trail along the old rail line and expansion of the trail to join up with Franklin Avenue between the Museum and Bounty Hall as a part of the Railyard Subdivision. These aspects of the project would likely be included with any application for grants."
