City to install new Crescent Town pedestrian bridge early next year

Modular structure to replace bridge that partially collapsed a year ago, councillor says

Cbc.ca
November 20, 2019

The city is planning to install a new pedestrian bridge in Toronto's Crescent Town neighbourhood at the end of January to replace one that partially collapsed a year ago, according to the local councillor.

Coun. Brad Bradford, who represents Ward 19, Beaches-East York, told a community meeting on Tuesday night that the new structure is modular and crews will install it after it is constructed off site.

"Over the course of the year, the city conducted an investigation. We did an internal audit. We really wanted to understand what happened," Bradford said on Tuesday.

Bradford said the pedestrian bridge was used by hundreds of students every day.

"We got lucky here because the collapse happened in the early morning hours on a weekend. If that was any other time of the day, it could have been catastrophic," he said.

The privately owned but publicly accessible bridge was an elevated walkway that linked apartment buildings to Crescent Town Elementary School.

No one injured after part of pedestrian bridge collapses in east end
Concrete from the underside of the bridge, which crossed Massey Square near Victoria Park Avenue north of Danforth Avenue, fell to the ground on Nov. 17, 2018.

No one was injured when it partially collapsed.

The bridge was jointly owned by the Toronto District School Board and Bleeman Holdings, which uses Pinedale Properties to manage the property on its behalf. The partial collapse occurred on the portion of the bridge owned by Bleeman Holdings.

After the collapse, the entire bridge was demolished.

"The collapse of the bridge over Massey Square was a potentially catastrophic event for the city," city staff said in a June 24 report.

"The bridge was used daily by students to access Crescent Town Elementary School, and it was fortunate that no one was hurt as a result of the collapse."