Bridge the Gap
Have Your Say
The Solution
What is needed? Commonsense. There are other projects in the city of Victoria or its environs that need costly improvement that are much more important than the Blue Bridge replacement, ie things such as roadway improvement at McKenzie and Highway 1, the proposed LRT system, the proposed Colwood to Victoria commuter train, and the widening of the Bay Street Bridge. These are just a few of the capital intensive projects of the region that would be of a better use of the infrastructure dollars. The cost to repair the bridge was estimated at $15 million. The cost to replace the bridge is estimated to be $60 million plus. The cost saving to the taxpayer is consequential. By incrementally doing the maintenance, traffic distribution will be minimal compared to the alternative of the replacement program. The invaluable aspect of having such a unique, historic structure in the sky line of the city of Victoria is a laudable legacy of the survival of the bridge. In the future, tourists will visit to marvel at the engineering of this historic structure much as they do in Europe at their historic structures. In its continued years of duty and service the bridge will continue to benefit the community on a daily basis as one of the means of crossing the harbour.