An Omand’s Creek crossing for everyone

This new study will look at the bridge itself, potential improvements to the pathways that surround it, and a future river access point.

Location

Omand Park connects to Halter Park where Omand's Creek meets the Assiniboine River. Together, they create a roughly 15-acre park area. The park features mature trees and riparian forest. Its amenities - like baseball diamonds and seating areas - are well-used. The west bank of Omand’s Creek is a popular winter recreation destination. The pedestrian bridge and surrounding pathways are an important east-west connector. They make moving between Omand Park and Wolseley possible for cyclists and pedestrians. 

The bridge

The bridge over Omand’s Creek was built in 1981. It is a concrete bridge with galvanized handrail.

The existing structure is at the end of its service life. It will require replacement before 2029. This is because of a few critical issues: 

• The bridge and surrounding pathways do not meet accessibility standards 
• The bridge is low-lying and floods in the spring most years

The bridge is required to maintain connectivity over Omand’s Creek. If this bridge were to be decommissioned, the nearest crossing would be Portage Avenue. 

Relying solely on the Portage Avenue crossing would be detrimental to both connectivity and accessibility. For example, when the Omand’s Creek pedestrian bridge floods, people must detour roughly 500 m to Portage Avenue. This adds about seven minutes for someone walking through the park. 

Past studies and engagement 

In 2010, we took five design options to the community for input. These options included: 

• Three variations of a bridge
• One design that focused on upgrading the park
• One design that solely upgraded the existing bridge

At that time, the public told us the designs would negatively impact how community members use the park. We also heard the designs did not match the look and feel of the park. 

We’re moving forward with the knowledge that preserving park assets is a priority for the community. Feedback received from the public in 2010 will inform the creation of new options. 

Budget

We expect to build the bridge with existing funding. 

The design study will help us determine a Class 5 estimate and schedule for construction. We hope to start planning construction as early as 2026. 

Building a river access point would require additional budget in the future. 

Current issues  

Steep paths

We built the paths that connect to the Omand’s Creek Pedestrian Bridge before we had an established accessibility design standard. 

The standard indicates how steep pathways can be to be safe for users of all ages and abilities. Some of the existing pathways are too steep. For some, this makes the paths tiring on the way up and dangerous on the way down. 

According to the accessibility design standard, pathways should have less than five percent slope. The slope is currently greater than 10 percent on some pathways here. 

One option for making a path less steep is a switchback path. 

Narrow paths

The standard also indicates how wide pathways should be to safely accommodate both pedestrians and cyclists. The current bridge and pathways are less than 2.5 m wide, which is too narrow. We would design a new bridge and pathways a 3.5-metre width.

Flooding 

The Omand’s Creek Pedestrian Bridge has been covered in water for more than 600 days over the last 10 years. The bridge is unusable when flooded. Flood waters also degrade the bridge and lead to more required maintenance. 

River access

We are also looking at how people in Omand Park could access the Assiniboine River in the future. 

In 2022, Council accepted for information a report on river access in the area. The report evaluated eight riverbank properties as access points. It determined Omand Park was the best option but that an access here would only work if we monitored ice levels and winter safety. 

Considering all this, we want to know what you envision for a future access point. 

Building a crossing for everyone

Putting a new bridge back in the old spot isn’t ideal. It wouldn’t improve the steep pathways or flooding. 

At the same time, we heard in 2010 that a bigger bridge would be too invasive. We also heard the community wants us to preserve the park’s character. 

Our job now is to figure out how we design a new bridge that supports accessibility, reduce flooding, and maintain park use. 

Building the bridge on slightly higher ground could both improve existing issues and maintain what matters to the community. 

Here’s how that could look: 

Click to view entire image

Building a new bridge above the 2019 flood point would come with both benefits and drawbacks. 

It would:

• Reduce the flood risk 
• Reduce the slope of pathways to the bridge
• Make it easier for us to build paths that meet the accessibility standard
• Reduce the footprint of the bridge compared to previously presented designs 

But at the same time:  

• The suggested location is below the City’s flood protection level and so the bridge could still flood during seasonal events 
• Some landscaping would be required on the pathways to ensure the slope remains below five percent to support path accessibility standards  
• We would disturb the natural surroundings a little

We need your help to figure out how we move forward. 

 What we hear from the community will support where the new bridge goes and what park features we should avoid.