14th St Pedestrian Bridge

At the time of its removal a year or so ago it was the oldest such structure in Calgary and without a doubt the most challenging to navigate. With steep stairs and a narrow walkway, it was not for the timid. We’re speaking of the 14th St Pedestrian Bridge, now gone and relegated to history, that once rusted hunk of metal (some might add eyesore) in Calgary’s Hillhurst Neighbourhood. It’s doubtful anyone lamented the loss.

Dating from 1959, it was constructed so students attending Hillhurst School could avoid a dangerous at-grade crosswalk. The steep hill on 14th Street has cars breaking the speed of sound by the time they pass by and even with crossing guards it was disaster waiting to happen.

Taking on the the structure required steadfast nerves and you could feel it wobble side to side as you crossed. Heaven help you if you tripped and with that would surely come a chipped-tooth and a trip to the dentist. It certainly was no use if you we’re pushing a baby carriage or some such wheeled conveyance or had mobility issues and come winter was doubly a nightmare. They didn’t think about those things back then.

The crossmembers show scars of having been hit more than a few times. With low clearances some truck drivers must have been caught by surprise on smacking into it. Road salt had taken it’s toll on the paint and eaten deep into the metal in places. It was well past its prime.

The city mentions several hundred people per day used the bridge, mostly we presume kids heading to and from school. It’s be safe to say few old ladies with walkers would be in that mix. In it’s place, a street level crosswalk with lights was put in a block to the south (so a bit further away from the hill). Still, cars fly past due to the grade and don’t slow till further on, so we wonder how long before there’s a close call. Some parents whose kids attend Hillhurst School and use the crosswalk have voiced a similar concern.

From that same card dump…
Vandervalk Collection – can you say massive military equipment!

Short Subjects: reports that for any number of reasons are brief in nature. They might be updates to older articles, previews of posts planned or not yet published, brief snippets of things that don’t fit in anywhere else or subjects that are so obscure that information on them can’t be found. Or sometimes we just ramble on about Lord knows what.

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Date of adventure: October, 2018.
Location: Calgary, AB.

Now gone, Calgary’s oldest pedestrian bridge.

It’s big old rusty hunk of metal.