New bridge would make trail more accessible: Parks manager

A new bridge over the Current River would make the city’s trail system more accessible, a city official says.

City of Thunder Bay administration will recommend Monday night that $866,000 be included in the 2012 city budget for a new three-metre wide steel truss bridge over Current River near Trowbridge Falls to replace one closed down due to deteriorating conditions.

While it was originally recommended that the bridge be repaired, city parks manager Paul Fayrick said moving the location downstream to Kinsmen Park and building a new bridge has several advantages.

Mainly, members of the public won’t have to go through Trowbridge Falls campground to use the bridge.

The current bridge, built in 1971, is also barely wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side.

"The old bridge is barely five feet wide," Fayrick said. "And it’s not in the best place because it means everybody who wants to use the bridge and trails have to use the campground."

It would also help mountain bikers access Shuniah Mines.

Access to the popular spot currently is technically illegal. In talks with the International Mountain Biking Association, Fayrick said using Kinsmen Park and the bridge to access the biking trails will help attract competitions to the area.

The association’s suggestion of a wider bridge at the Kinsmen Park location made more sense Fayrick said.

"We started thinking ‘well maybe that’s a better idea’," he said.

A wider bridge and that location would also become part of the TransCanada trail, which could fund up to 50 per cent of the bridge costs.

City crews could also use the bridge to take maintenance equipment to the park rather than driving equipment from Centennial Park like they do now.