Avalon Place Highway 7/8 Multi-Use Trail Crossing

[KevinL]

Spotted these workers doing some kind of detailed process from a jig lift this morning, so it may not be quite as complete as it looks. 

[cherrypark]

Chalked up the lack of opening in the winter to skipping a year of winter maintenance when it would be less in use, but let's get on with it...

[Acitta]

Well, the bridge is not open, but the gate is ajar on both ends. I was able to squeeze my walker through on Avalon and take some pictures. A couple of people walking a dog crossed from the other end. 
                   

[Acitta]

More pictures.
                   

[cherrypark]

Thanks for the pictures, Gary. Shaking my fist towards the Regional offices every day I still have to take Homer Watson/Ottawa from Sterling to Strasburg.

[Acitta]

Thanks for the pictures, Gary. Shaking my fist towards the Regional offices every day I still have to take Homer Watson/Ottawa from Sterling to Strasburg.

If you are walking or biking, you can squeeze through, at least on the weekends when there are no construction workers around. I imagine that there will be a lot of activity happening soon during the week to do the landscaping at both ends.

[cherrypark]

Yeah, fair point. Probably want to get that done before they do a ribbon cut.

[cherrypark]

The bridge is now open for riding. Looks like still some landscaping work ongoing.

[Acitta]

CTV (video): Pedestrian bridge in Kitchener opens after years of construction

A pedestrian bridge over Highway 7/8 in Kitchener has opened after almost three years of construction.

The bridge near the Homer Watson Boulevard exit opened without any fanfare after work first began in 2022.

Last summer, a section of the highway was closed as crews installed a piece of the bridge connecting Avalon Place to Chandler Drive/Strasburg Road.

The project was estimated to cost over $9.5 million with the federal, provincial and Waterloo Region governments all pitching in.

Some landscaping work and final touches are still being added. That work is expected to wrap up this summer.

[ac3r]

3 years and they still have to plant some trees and tighten all the screws, lmao.

[dtkvictim]

Made use of this bridge yesterday. Works perfectly well, and already seemed to be getting a bunch of use. There is still a small MUT trail gap on Strasburg but not a big deal. Heading from the bridge to Lakeside Park works well enough for getting into the separated bike lanes on Stirling. Going from the park to the bridge is a bit janky though when the 3-way stop is busy as people seem to forget all rules when they see a bicycle.

[creative]

3 years and they still have to plant some trees and tighten all the screws, lmao.

Crawls out from under his rock, nothing positive to add, crawls back under his rock. Complainers got to complain.

[timc]

I used the bridge on this past Saturday. It's a useful link, although the bridge itself is very open, which made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

[Kodra24]

I drove underneath it a few days ago and it was full of pedestrians and cyclists, great to see

[Acitta]

It appears that there was an official opening last week after being in use for 2 months. 
New pedestrian bridge opens in Kitchener