The Globe and Mail

Literally and politically, architectural bad boy Will Alsop wants to go where no developer has gone before: all the way over the broad, leafy railway corridor downtown. That's the same corridor that has cut a divisive swath through dozens of Toronto neighbourhoods for decades. Last week, the British architect, who was responsible for putting the Ontario College of Art & Design up on stilts in 2004, unveiled plans to erect a funky $2-million pedestrian/cycling bridge over the CN rail line, at a location that would link the rapidly developing neighbourhoods along King West and Queen West, near Dufferin Street. Building another pedestrian crossover may not sound like a radical move in a city that already has a handful of them stretching across major thoroughfares. But Mr. Alsop's plan for a gently sloped, playful-looking bridge has sparked the imagination of area residents -- not to mention urban-planning types, who see this kind of project as a critical step toward creating more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly north-south connections linking downtown neighbourhoods with the waterfront.