UNBREAKING NEWS - 7th Avenue SW Bridge Re-Opened To Traffic

It was over six years in the making but the 7th Avenue SW Bridge has been re-opened to the public. Almost a full month ahead of schedule.

The bridge which was severely damaged due to ice in the Spring of 2015 and was closed to vehicular traffic due to damage to its support structure. In late 2020 the bridge was inspected and closed to pedestrian traffic as well.

At a cost of over $800,000 unbudgeted dollars the City recently conducted major repairs on the bridge after complaints were raised by two residents on the south side of the bridge that repairs were necessary to allow them better access to the city.

The 7th Avenue SW Bridge is now open to pubic traffic and anther way for residents to explore the Moose Jaw River valley - MJ Independent photo

The need to repair the bridge came because the publicly owned road allowance to the south was being blocked by a gate locked by Carpere the new owners of the Valley View Centre property. Closing the road allowance made access to the two residential properties through an agreement with Carpere which had locked the gate to protect their newly acquired assets.

According to documents obtained through a Freedom Of Information request by MJ Independent attempts by the Province prior to Carpere taking possession of the former Valley View Centre property to keep open the road allowance to the public were not successful.

The gate allowing access from the east of the former Valley View Centre property - Highway 2 - was locked by Carpere to all but the residents and emergency vehicles.

The City attempted to have Carpere cost share the repairs of new bridge on a 50 - 50 basis, something Carpere declined to do despite re-opening the 7th Avenue SW bridge is central to the Vancouver based corporation’s residential development plans on the former Valley View Centre property.

Carpere wants the City to re-zone the former Valley View Centre property from commercial to residential with additional conditions surrounding the Off Site Levies - something Carpere does not want to pay - tying them to the development.

Off Site Levies are a means how new developments pay their share for infrastructure (including access roads and bridges), parks and recreational facilities that are not part of the development but elsewhere in the city but are beneficial to the development.

The City and Carpere continue to discuss the terms of the new proposed residential development.

In the meantime the opening of the bridge will allow all Moose Jaw residents to access the roadway and go for a cruise to rediscover the area if they so chose.

Emergency vehicles, such as fire trucks, will have to use the locked south entrance to access due to the bridge’s weight restrictions. The police and fire departments have keys to the locked gate.

The locked gate at the entrance to the former Valley View Centre property - MJ Independent photo