The idea was put into place to reconnect the people of New Westminster with the Fraser River by improving access to the waterfront, esplanade and Westminster Pier Park. The mews when completed will have street parking, wider sidewalks for pedestrians and 'beautification' landscaping.
Front street is usually teeming with huge lumbering commercial vehicles 24/7 but ever since the street has been shut down for the redevelopment project, it is like a ghost town down there. We drove off the paved part of Front street onto the stripped section that will eventually be resurfaced and wandered around under the amazing girders and trusses and all the amazing concrete and steel above our heads.
The one sad thing of all this was seeing the shape our not-long-for-this-world Pattullo bridge proudly spanning the Fraser in such neglect. She's a pretty little bridge that doesn't deserve the end she's facing. But that's another rant for another day I suppose.
For now, pictures along and above Front Street - absent of belching semis on a sunny serene Sunday.
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| Not related but fun - went through the car wash. |
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| Front street heading out of New West. |
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| Last standing business right on the waterfront. |
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| Front street with mountains in the background. |
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| Facing into New West under one of the train bridges. |
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| Possibly the only remaining part of the old New Westminster Cannery. |
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| Feats of engineering that holds the weight of endless trains. |
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| Strong! |
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| If you can get to it, you can tag it. |
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| Part of what keeps the bridge up there. |
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| A chaos of metal and rivets. |
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| Lush hillside vegetation watching over the river. |
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| One of many shots from under the train bridge |
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| The old and the new. |
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| Rosie the Riveter would be impressed. |
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| Our beautiful Pattullo bridge. |
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| Train bridge. Pattullo bridge. Skytrain bridge. |
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| CN rumbling along the train bridge right over our heads. |
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| She's still a beauty despite the neglect! |
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| And they're tearing this beautiful piece of history down. Fools!!! |
Looking forward to see the transformation of that area down there. They say there'll be easier access to the waterfront once they're done with everything, but how do you ignore the rolling industry roaring out to the highway just a sidewalk's depth away from you. We shall see.
