Lawsuit launched over pedestrian bridge delays in Mississauga

A Mississauga man is taking the city to court over inaction on a planned pedestrian bridge.

The Orchard Heights pedestrian bridge would have crossed Etobicoke Creek, connecting a pathway along the creek to Orchard Heights Park, just south of the QEW highway.

After years of inaction, nearby resident Wolf Ruck is taking legal action against the City of Mississauga and Ward 1 Councillor Stephen Dasko. Ruck tells INsauga.com he is asking the city to proceed with the construction of the bridge. Ruck says he is seeking a court order or “mandamus,” which is typically described as a last resort when officials refuse to perform mandatory tasks.

The lawsuit was filed with the Superior Court of Justice in Brampton on July 3.

The court document states that the city failed “to provide official public notice of the project’s status, the reason for any hold, the authority for any hold,” and council never “rescinded or amended the prior approvals” for the bridge.

He asks the court to review “the continuing failure or refusal to complete, restore, publicly reconsider, or formally rescind the Orchard Heights Park Foot-Bike Bridge project through lawful Council process.”

The proposed bridge has a long history. The crossing was identified in 2010, and supported by the late Ward 1 Councillor Jim Tovey, city documents show.

“From a cycling network and connectivity perspective, it is important to establish as many crossings of this nature as possible,” a May 2018 staff report to council noted.

A red marker shows the location proposed for a bridge over the Etobicoke Creek. Map: City of Mississauga report

Councillors agreed and unanimously approved a partnership with the Toronto Region Conservation Association to construct the bridge. Council approved contributing up to a maximum of $160,000 for the project.

But the project was put on hold in 2021 due to the results of a survey coordinated by the City of Mississauga and sent to the residents in the Orchard Heights community, a city spokesperson told INsauga.com in 2022. The city spokesperson said the hold was temporary, and that it would “be reassessed in 2023, with plans for a fulsome public engagement with the community on the project.”

However, the bridge is still be on hold over three years later.

“The Orchard Heights Park foot bridge project has been put on hold pending further review,” a city spokesperson told INsauga.com last week.

Two surveys on the bridge

A city survey was conducted online from Jan. 25 to Feb. 15, 2021. A total of 57 respondents supported the bridge project (52 per cent), and 53 respondents did not support the bridge project (48 per cent), according to a April 2021 email to Councillor Stephen Dasko, retrieved via a Freedom of Information request, from Sharon Chapman, a former City of Mississauga Parks and Culture Planning manager.

Chapman said that the “majority of survey respondents were in favour of the pedestrian bridge proposed to connect Orchard Heights Park to the Etobicoke Creek Trail.”

Another, later, survey from the Orchard Heights Homeowners’ Association found a majority of residents did not support the bridge.

Ruck has argued that this survey was flawed as it wasn’t conducted by a neutral third party, and it only allowed one response per household.

A representative from the association said the survey was not biased as it was written by people both in favour of the footbridge and those who were opposed.

Freedom of Information request

Through the Freedom of Information request, Ruck discovered that Dasko asked the city to put the bridge project on hold.

In July of 2021, after the results of the Orchard Heights Homeowners’ Association online survey came in, Dasko asked Chapman to delay the bridge project.

“The bridge as you know is one of a lot of contention in the community,” Dasko said. “Since the city’s survey the ratepayers have initiated a survey and the majority was actually against the bridge. I can share the data, also the ratepayer group will be coming back to me shortly.”

The email below was released via a Freedom of Information request.

An email gathered through a Freedom of Information request.

Both the city and Councillor Stephen Dasko declined to comment on the legal proceedings.

Ruck, who is defending himself, named Dasko in the legal proceedings because he feels the councillor is responsible for halting the project.

The bridge would get cyclists to the waterfront more safely as opposed to Dixie Road, Ruck said. It could also reduce traffic congestion. He suggests Orchard Heights community members live in a “dead-end, no exit community.”

The only option is Dixie Road, where vehicles drive too quickly for cyclists, he said.

Ruck argues that “since 2021, Lakeview-Mississauga residents of all ages and walks of life, including walkers, runners, cyclists, rollers, seniors, children, families, commuters, mobility-device users, residents without cars, visitors and workers, etc. continue to be deprived of their rightful access to taxpayer-funded public amenities at the waterfront.”

There are parks, playgrounds, sports fields, beaches, volleyball courts, children’s play areas, splash pads, transit, neighbourhood shopping and the waterfront trail that could be accessed via the Etobicoke Creek trail.

“I am going to try and make a case on the indisputable benefit to the community,” Ruck said.

It is not known yet when the case will be heard in court.

Ruck has been in the news recently. He won a court challenge against a City of Mississauga bylaw and reaffirmed his right to keep a naturalized garden with tall grass on lawns and native plants.

For more information on Ruck’s campaign for the pedestrian bridge, see his website here.