"Canberra News, Views and Opinion"
Territory and Municipal Services have the fascinating news that the iconic warehoused Belconnen “Red Bridge” is going to ride to the rescue of the Molonglo Reach bike path.
“Flooding arising from the heavy rain last week again damaged the interim pathway along Molonglo Reach, east of the Clare Holland House (ACT Hospice) which was restored for pedestrian use after flooding in December 2010. The ACT Government is investigating interim transit arrangements while pursuing a permanent solution for the pathway,” Mr Gill said.
“A study has been undertaken which has identified a preferred solution for the pathway. The proposed solution utilises the surplus pedestrian bridge from Belconnen Westfield to span the failed pavement. The bridge option is necessary due to the poor soil conditions along the river edge which make the replacement of the path difficult.
“The bridge, which previously connected the Belconnen Mall and Lathlain Street and was known locally as the ‘red bridge’, is intended to be painted grey and landscaping work undertaken to ensure the visual impact is minimised.
“Environmental considerations have also been taken into account, with the proposed construction methodology and program chosen to ensure that nearby platypus burrows remain undisturbed.”
During construction, all cyclist and pedestrian traffic will be diverted to a two-way protected path along Morshead Drive for approximately 270 metres. This path will be separated from westbound traffic on Morshead Drive by a concrete barrier. Due to the recent pathway damage it is anticipated that this detour will be introduced ahead of schedule.
Is there nothing that bridge can’t do?
Here’s an artists impression of what it will look like:
Sadly there’s a consultation process which sadly runs to 13 April instead of just cracking on with it.
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Not much of an artist, they have got the colour wrong.
That’s taking recycling to the nth degree
p1 said :
If you read it, it says they will be painting the bridge grey.
Unless of course you’re referring to the colour of the water, as the artist hasn’t quite captured the Molonglo Effluent Brown’ of the lake in its current state….
Visual impact ?
I see a frickin great road, a stone wall and an asphalt path.
There is no logical reason to paint it grey.
I don’t know why they are even thinking about consulting with this.
It’s a complete no brainer.
Great idea. Just do it.
Awesome! That should appease (almost) everyone.
I wonder if they need to some remediation work to shore up underneath the rock wall though. Looks like it’s going to eventually be eroded away if they don’t?
Should leave it red as a reminder that it once belonged at Belconnen Mall. Good idea to have a bridge though, rather than another bike path that will again wash away with the next storm.
just do it!
jsm2090 said :
But they can’t repaint the red bridge. It is called the red bridge for a reason.
damien haas said :
It is a well known fact that the Canberra platypus is offended by the colour red. Religious reasons I understand. Grey is an acceptable colour.
Just some more trivia about this bridge, that being it was fabricated in Tamworth and transported to Canberra by road about 40 years ago.
Great solution.
it will have to be known as “the bridge formerly known as red” or they will have to make it’s name an weird symbol
p1 said :
Was it designed by a Mr Red?
A bit of lateral thinking there from some bloke, well done.
But what are they going to do about the clear undermining of the road wall? It won’t take much to have that collapsing, and losing the use of Moreshead Drive is unthinkable, that is one busy road, day and night.
Consultation? They are consulting. They told us about it. Why go through the standard consultation charade?
damien haas said :
Good comment lol
Thumper said :
Another good comment.
It must be red!
And I like to think it was saved as a result of a Belconnen Community Council meeting… If I recall correctly, the meeting was told the Red Bridge was to become scrap.
PS – I know the son of one the blokes who initially built it!
I say let them repaint it, then we who are “in the know” can gain social capital by explaining to new arrivals and tourists why everyone calls it the red bridge.
Once it’s up and painted, people could have some fun staging guerilla painting raids in the night.
EvanJames said :
I like
During construction, all cyclist and pedestrian traffic will be diverted to a two-way protected path along Morshead Drive for approximately 270 metres. This path will be separated from westbound traffic on Morshead Drive by a concrete barrier.
Be interesting to see how this works. Putting a pedestrian/cycle path in would serverely narrow the two lanes of west bound traffic. I rode along there yesterday (to avoid the damaged path) and it’s already pretty narrow.
PM said :
wow, you must be almost famous
EvanJames said :
And with cooler weather coming on they could be guerillas in the mist…
Pork Hunt said :
… waving paint pots…
PM said :
It was built in Tamworth, right?
“Environmental considerations have also been taken into account, with the proposed construction methodology and program chosen to ensure that nearby platypus burrows remain undisturbed.”
So, the massive erosion caused by the flood didn’t do any more damage than what stabilising Morshead Dr. would do?? They must do something to stop the rest of the hillside collapsing, so why not incorporate that into a new [stronger] bike path?
Bear in mind people, that this photo has been “tinkered with” to show wonderful green trees and shoreline, which didn’t exist prior to this point in time, and probably wouldn’t exist in the future after a flood as we have just experienced. There has to be tonnes of rock or soil poured into the area to create this footing for Morshead Dr. before any bridge can be placed. A lot of work and I bet not cheap, considering the location and access.
I see another leak in the taxpayers bucket, draining into LBG.
I’m not getting a warm fuzzy feeling at all.
EvanJames said :
Check box bureaucracy. Or, covering your arse.
BenMac said :
I sometimes ride past there on the road as the path is going to take me out of my way and into crowds. Will I be able to get off the road onto this path, or will the barriers force me to remain on the road ?