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COMING SOON! Bridging the Design Gap - a UT design charette

Thank you for your submission Wylie. It looks like you put a great effort into it. We needed somebody to kick this off.

That said, I'm not sure I like it :( Sorry... a bit too bulky and pre-casty. I see this full of graffiti in a few months. Too many blank surfaces in a sure to be a light traffic area, specially at night.

I'd love to see something airy, light looking, perhaps suspended by cables.

On a note referencing my suggestion for CityPlace to control their side of the landing by building a hill so there wouldn't need to be a ramp on the South side, it looks like that's what Concord has in mind. I passed by today and there it was, a hill leading to where the bridge will land.
 
^ I was just trying to think of other ideas to build an attractive bridge. When I first looked at this design charette, I had the same impression as you that the pre-requisite for an attractive bridge is that it must be cable-stayed (many of the examples at the charette website are cable-stayed, as is the one in the banner). The design above is me trying to experiment with other bridge types, seeing if they can be used in an attractive way here.

I don't see graffiti as too big of a problem here. I work in the neighbourhood, and I often do photo tours around the area. The graffiti problem is huge around Queen Street, but Front Street and Cityplace are pretty much graffiti-free (the two bridges closest to the site - the Bathurst Bridge and the Spadina overpass are always very clean).

Don't worry if you don't like my first design. I still have a few more bridge ideas in my head, at least one of which is a cable-stayed design. Stay tuned.
 
I downloaded Sketchup hoping to mockup a couple of my ideas but... let's say I need a lot of help on my 3D modeling :p I gave up in frustration. lol

If anybody with 3D design skills would like to team up, let me know :)
 
So I take it we just create anything and post it as a bogus submission? While I don't hate any of the submissions thus far, wylie's is the only one which really seems like this is to be taken seriously. I think the other two are funny, maybe not necessarily the intention- I think I am maybe missing the point here? I am hoping to submit something this week...We'll see?

p5
 
p5connex said:
So I take it we just create anything and post it as a bogus submission? While I don't hate any of the submissions thus far, wylie's is the only one which really seems like this is to be taken seriously. I think the other two are funny, maybe not necessarily the intention- I think I am maybe missing the point here? I am hoping to submit something this week...We'll see?

p5
Click to expand...

p5:

There are no bogus submissions. While this is a fun competition, we are encouraging those who enter designs to do so with care and dedication. In the end, the charette working group will decide whether the submission is 'post-worthy.'
 
Thanks PE-
I don't mean to be disrespectful or anything, I got a bit of the impression that maybe I was taking it a little too seriously..All the same, I think however any the designs come out, it is great to see people contributing to the process.

Thanks..

p5
 
p5connex said:
So I take it we just create anything and post it as a bogus submission? While I don't hate any of the submissions thus far, wylie's is the only one which really seems like this is to be taken seriously. I think the other two are funny, maybe not necessarily the intention- I think I am maybe missing the point here? I am hoping to submit something this week...We'll see?

p5
Click to expand...

Here is something very similar.
Roanoke Pedestrian Bridge, Roanoke, Virginia
MFG by Keller Glasco Inc.

http://www.kellerglasco.com/ProjVARoanoke.html
 
Pedestrian Bridge design contest- it SHOULD be railfan - friendly...

Everyone: I found this contest most interesting-I like Wylie's designs in #1 and #6 best for now and I want to mention that this overpass be railfan or trainspotter-friendly due to the busy rail line it will be built across-it will maybe attract many local and out of town railfans thanks to its location. I will input soon on the other designs and comment soon-let's hope one of these designs actually gets built!
LI MIKE
 
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I have looked at all 6-here now are my rankings of these designs...

Everyone: From looking at these designs and placing comments here are my rankings on the submissions:
1 first-4 and 6 tied for second and then 3-5-2.
Thoughts and observations by LI MIKE
 
Long Island Mike said:
Everyone: I found this contest most interesting-I like Wylie's designs in #1 and #6 best for now and I want to mention that this overpass be railfan or trainspotter-friendly due to the busy rail line it will be built across-it will maybe attract many local and out of town railfans thanks to its location. I will input soon on the other designs and comment soon-let's hope one of these designs actually gets built!
LI MIKE
Click to expand...

I don't quite understand your reasoning Long Island Mike. We already have several bridges overlooking the rail (4 of them in the immediate vicinity plus the enclosed SkyWalk) and I don't see our bridges lined with railfans from Toronto and out of town. I see the occasional person on the Bathurst bridge watching trains (or contemplating suicide).

I think that this bridge, along with the Fort York and Liberty Village bridges should become connection corridors to the waterfront with a seamless and pleasant crossing. Like the Gardiner expressway, many consider the rail corridor to be a psychological barrier to the waterfront.

In my interpretation, the bridge should be the beginning or a part of CityPlace Park to make the transition to the south of the rail corridor as seamless as possible.
 
Bridges over the Downtown Toronto rail corridor...

MetroMan: I looked at a YouTube video of the rail line between Union Station and Exhibition today and I noticed multiple overpasses as mentioned by you-perhaps I was thinking of earlier days when there was only ONE overpass in the vicinity of the CN Tower.

Depending on the sightlines off the proposed bridge E&W it could be more or less railfan or trainspotter friendly.
The Bathurst bridge is interesting because of the busy rail junction directly below it.
I now realize there are OTHER places to railfan or trainspot that now exist there.

I agree-a neat bridge design would be something people remember...LI MIKE
 
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I'm not a trainspotter, but I could easily think of a some existing great places along that corridor off the top of my head. The Spadina bridge has a good view of trains leaving and arriving at Union Station and then there's the Blue Jays Way and SkyDome bridges which get even closer to the action.

I don't think this pedestrian bridge needs to consider the trainspotter, as that market is very well served already.

The goal of this bridge and others needed over the corridor should be to make the North-South connection from the city to the Waterfront as seamless and pleasant as possible.

The city is actively engaged in a major effort to improve the waterfront. A vital part of that is connecting the city to the lake so that people actually go there.
 
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