Osborne Street Bridge Rehabilitation Project
This project is now complete.
Connecting to the Community
Area churches, social service groups and government representatives joined together in December 2009 to discuss the needs of the homeless and street youth living under and around the bridge. They looked at what kinds of resources and alternatives are available to provide support and to be responsive. When construction starts, the bridge area will be appropriately fenced to ensure safety.
The Winnipeg Arts Council (WAC) has worked with the City of Winnipeg to incorporate public art into the project. Artists and architects Eduardo Aquino and Karen Shanski of SPMB were chosen through juried selection and are members of the consulting design team that will integrate artwork into the bridge structure. The team's concept and design has taken into account input from collaborative planning and public consultation with the Neighbourhood Advisory Committee. Aesthetic treatment, including public art, was a key element requested by the public.
This exciting approach to public art is following a community-based design strategy.
spmb has developed three components for the public art project connected with the bridge:
- using the sidewalk to mirror the neighbourhood's physical map;
- treatment of the bridge handrails, using light and text; and
- creation of two "gateway zones" at each bridge entry point, celebrating the neighbourhood's history through the architecture of surrounding symbolic buildings such as The Legislature and the Roslyn Apartment Building.
This concept reflects the thoughts expressed by the Osborne Village and surrounding community in the public consultation process, and treats the bridge infrastructure itself as art, by integrating the art components within the structure.
Cyclists on the bridge will be able to link to two nearby active transportation routes: the Nassau Street route, which will connect along Roslyn Road to the Osborne Bridge, and the Assiniboine Avenue bikeway to the north.
A new street level crossing at Mostyn Place will be provided to allow pedestrians and cyclists to cross Osborne Street.
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) measures have been incorporated into the new design. Through the public consultation process, residents and business owners expressed concerns about safety for themselves and their customers, and the need for a welcoming environment for all who use the bridge.
Sustainability was noted as an aim for the project. There is an opportunity to recycle and crush any concrete that is removed from the roadway, curbs and sidewalks, as well as recycle the asphalt that is milled from the roadway, for use as sub-base material under new pavement or sidewalks either on this project or another. The handrail is salvageable or could be sold as scrap metal.