A piece of the Sixth Street pedestrian overpass will soon be put in place – and it could be noisy.
Council recently approved an exemption to the construction noise bylaw to allow Bosa Development to do work on the pedestrian overpass that will eventually take pedestrians and cyclists from the Front Street parkade into Westminster Pier Park. The exemption to the noise bylaw permits work to be done one evening between Saturday, June 6 and Sunday, July 12.
“Subject to receipt of final permits from the railway companies, the main span of the overpass is expected to be placed during the night of Friday, June 12,” said Jim Lowrie, the city’s director of engineering. “Remaining work to be completed includes tie-in to the existing parkade and installation of lighting, railings and other safety features. The developer advises that completion of the overpass is anticipated by late summer.”
The structure, which has been assembled off-site and will be delivered to the site as a complete unit, will be installed over the railway tracks using a mobile crane.
“Construction noise will start in the evening and continue through to the next morning,” said the report. “The work will included erecting the pre-assembled bridge over the railway tracks overnight. The crane engine is going to generate non-continuous noise for two hours as the hoisting of the bridge takes place around approximately 4 a.m.”
According to staff, the work requires an eight-hour closure of Front Street, between Begbie and East Columbia streets, including the adjacent railway section of Front Street. The job includes delivery of the 75-foot, precast bridge section to the site, a crane lift and installation of the bridge.
The Sixth Street overpass will include stairs and a 140-metre long accessible ramp, allowing pedestrians and cyclists to get to and from Westminster Pier Park. Once the overpass is complete, the city will build a new plaza and play area beneath the ramp.
Currently, visitors can get to Westminster Pier Park from an elevator at Fourth Street (at the Front Street parkade) or via a ground-level access on the west side of the site.
Pier West, which is now under construction at 660 Quayside Dr., will include 53- and 43-storey residential towers, a three-storey commercial building with child-care and retail space, an extension to Westminster Pier Park, a public plaza, surface and underground parking and about two acres of park.
“Pier West by Bosa Development is one of the tallest waterfront residential properties in the Lower Mainland,” said a staff report. “It is set within an 11-plus acre park on the city’s celebrated boardwalk and connects the downtown with Westminster Pier Park.”
