Johnson Street Bridges: Old Blue & New, March 31, 2018

It took more than six years and several budget reassessments — always upwards, of course — but Victoria’s new Johnson Street Bridge is finally in service.

Last Saturday, the city threw a party on old and new spans to say goodbye to rusty “Old Blue” and hello to its swanky replacement, final cost estimated at $105 million, 42 million over a 2015 projection.

In 2010, I lent my limited videography skills and gear to document the challenges the old bridge presented to cyclists. Assisted by Susanna Grimes on behalf of the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition, we presented the facts on the ground, so to speak.

Our advocacy, nor any other argument for that matter, were likely to sway an entrenched opposition to the project in some quarters holding on to the idea that the rusted hulk of the existing span could be rehabilitated for a mere $8 million.

As much as my nostalgia for all things historical and decrepit pulled for Old Blue — I made what might be called “character portraits” of the haggard old bridge — I couldn’t ignore the common sense that prevailed in the November 2010 municipal referendum that approved replacement.

All that is in the past now and it seemed this weekend, as citizens wandered both bridges (closed to traffic from noon to 5), listened to music, made masks, and recounted memories of the now-condemned structure, that everyone is excited to have a shiny new bridge spanning the Gorge Waterway.

Certainly, thanks to the forethought of former city councillors, cycling infrastructure is an integral part of the new crossing. No more slippery “cheese-grater” steel deck to frighten off would-be bike commuters and access to the Galloping Goose Trail network is seamless.

The photo above joins my earlier documentary photos of the Johnson Street Bridge available as limited and open edition prints at the store (at special introductory price). How can I not feel a twinge of regret that the Blue Bridge will be just a memory by midsummer?

Here’s a gallery of the weekend’s festivities (prints from this collection available on request):