Thousands of pedestrians and cyclists who cross the Johnson Street Bridge's rail portion every day are being diverted as of Saturday's permanent raising of the span.

Addressing city council on Thursday, an engineer from Stantec Consulting warned that the north side of the double bridge must be closed within 24 hours. He offered up an alternative that council could spend $120,000 on emergency temporary repairs.

after a March 29 inspection revealed significant structural deterioration of the rail bridge.

With little contention, council voted against spending the money on repairs. Factoring into the decision is the fact the city plans to demolish the rail bridge in about eight months anyways, to make room for the new Johnson Street Bridge.

The unexpected closure, however, leaves the city in a B次元官网网址渃risisB次元官网网址� situation about how to accommodate cycling and pedestrian traffic that uses the north side of the bridge to cross the Inner Harbour.

B次元官网网址淥nce people are mad B次元官网网址� once you piss them off, youB次元官网网址檙e never going to get them back,B次元官网网址� said Coun. Pam Madoff.

Some on council argued the city should reserve one westbound lane of traffic for cyclists, against staffB次元官网网址檚 advice. The idea was rejected to avoid traffic jams downtown. Instead, signage will direct people to the bridgeB次元官网网址檚 south-side sidewalk.

Once in Vic West, people will have the option to cross to the north using the rail overpass. Road paint and curb alterations will facilitate the new route.

Staff will return to council in two weeks to present better options for the long term.

rholmen@vicnews.com