The City of New Westminster has put construction of an overpass into Westminster Pier Park on hold.
The city had posted a bid on its website for the construction of a "cantilevered" pedestrian overpass from the edge of Westminster Pier Park to the Front Street Parkade, with the structure to align with Fourth Street. The city's website states that the bid has been cancelled.
"We are looking at it because of some new things happening at the park entrance," Mayor Wayne Wright told The Record.
Currently the only access to Westminster Pier Park is via the parking lot located on the Larco site.
"We are in very good discussions with them," Wright said. "For us to do anything right now without taking their piece of property into consideration would be wrong."
In June, the city announced a "bold" new vision for the Larco site that's located between Westminster Pier Park and the River Market sites. Although the Larco site's zoning currently allows five highrises, council directed staff to consult with Larco on the city's desire to amend the zoning for the site that's also located next to Westminster Pier Park.
"I am very positive about the discussions we are having," Wright said. "It (access) will be done. It's getting some tweaking. We stopped it because of the importance of knowing where it should be."
The overpass that had been proposed included stairs and an elevator connection to Westminster Pier Park from Fourth Street. It was originally planned to be completed this month.
In May, staff told council that the city would be able to consider bids that could fast track construction of the overpass.
