The race is on to replace the failing Valley Inn Road bridge in time for Around the Bay runners
The race is on to replace the failing Valley Inn Road bridge in time for Hamilton's oldest road race.
The 58-year-old rattling timber span over Grindstone Creek that a generation of kid cyclists called the clickety-clack" bridge was closed in late 2019 after an inspection revealed failing support girders.
That was a blow to cyclists, trail walkers, birders and the 10,000 or so Around the Bay Road Race runners who have to cross the rickety bridge to enjoy their infamous love-hate relationship with Heartbreak Hill.
A donation of $734,010 from the McNally Foundation allowed the city to start work this week to replace the Bailey bridge - but that project is slated to finish just a week before runners lace up March 27 for what organizers' hope is the first in-person Around the Bay race since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We know it will be tight," said race director Anna Lewis, who has submitted two potential 30-kilometre race routes to municipal authorities for 2022: one that includes the bridge-crossing Heartbreak Hill route, and the other without.
Love it or hate it, that (hill) is a signature element, a really well-known part of the history of our race, so we're hoping to have it back," she said. My fingers, toes and eyes are crossed."
For those unfamiliar, the pedestrian-only bridge connects the Spring Gardens Road hill leading down from Woodland Cemetery to the equally steep slope - Heartbreak Hill - that climbs back up to York Boulevard-Plains Road.
It also allows Royal Botanical Gardens visitors and trail walkers to travel between the Rock Garden, Laking Garden and the popular boardwalk trails along Grindstone Creek.
The bridge replacement contractor has blocked access to Valley Inn and Spring Gardens roads for the duration of the construction, which is supposed to wrap up by March 20, weather permitting.
The 25-tonne Bailey bridge - originally designed for Second World War military use as a portable, prefabricated span - will be removed in just a few large segments by crane as early as next week, said Erika Waite, Hamilton manager of asset management.
A new bridge still needs to be constructed and likely won't be installed until March.
But Waite said the new span over Grindstone Creek will be designed to echo the look of the old Bailey bridge and timber deck - and maybe even the rattling sound.
Some people asked us to keep the clickety-clack sound," she said, laughing. (Some others, though, have apparently complained about the thunder bridge" noise.)
The city is also planning to incorporate some elements of the old bridge into a sign or memorial about the importance of the Grindstone Creek valley road.
Valley Inn Road was once a tolled highway and a vital 1800s-era link between Dundas and Toronto.
Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at for The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com