Visited My Childhood Stomping Grounds

While visiting Sudbury this summer I finally got a chance to check out my old childhood stomping grounds, along with my daughter and her dog.. This is where we played in grades five and six out in the rocks behind Pine Street along the creek and railway tracks near the slag dump, unsupervised of course and I don’t think our parents even knew where we were. It’s been over sixty years since I explored back there and I was not sure if there had been any changes. The land was still undeveloped, I suspect because it is probably INCO/Vale property, The biggest surprise is that much of what was barren rock back then is now forest.

Google Earth View

Open Street Map View Showing Creek & Railway Tracks

Open Street Map Showing The Location Within Sudbury

Photos Slideshow

 

Prince of Wales Bridge: Why Isn't This a Bikeway

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As early as 2005, after the rail line was discontinued and the City of Ottawa purchased the bridge for possible future public transit use the NCC proposed using the bridge as a pedestrian and cycling bridge (Wikipedia: The Ottawa Citizen. (15 November 2005), NCC plans to link Ottawa, Gatineau with new recreation paths).

Since then the bridge has sat idle, although I assume, since the city purchased it for future public transit use, it's structural integrity has been maintained.

Such a shame. All those wasted years when the cost to use it as a Bikeway, even if temporary, would be minimal and if action had been taken in 2005 we'd be getting to close to ten years of use now. But it is never too late to do the right thing.

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All that would be needed is for a wooden boardwalk with railings to be built over the steel rails and approaches connected from the recreational pathways that are already on both sides of the Ottawa River. The timing is ideal with the newly built O-Train Multi-User Path (MUP) following the rest of the rail line on the Ottawa side all the way to the recreational pathway along the Rideau Canal. This would make an ideal link in the region's pathway system. The minimal cost would justify the expense, even if temporary, and it could be another ten years, if ever, before the bridge is used for public transit.

It is time for our elected, and unelected, officials to find ways through the bureaucratic roadblocks and make this happen for the citizens of Ottawa and Gatineau.

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Photo Source