Iconic landmark near Toronto lands spot in the Guinness World Record books

TORONTO -

The iconic Pickering pedestrian bridge has landed in the record books, declared by the Guinness World Records as the longest enclosed pedestrian bridge in the world.

The $38 million dollar bridge that has become a landmark in the city east of Toronto crossing Highway 401 earned the record after being measured at 250 meters in length.

“We knew we had something special and we couldn’t find another one around the world that was the same length and that made us think we should see if it’s the longest and sure enough, it is,” Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins told CTV News Toronto on Tuesday.

The whole process took over a year to complete, with Metrolinx recently receiving confirmation from Guinness World Records, said Aikins.

An independent engineer measured the pedestrian bridge’s length from end to end, while a Metronlix official witnessed it. The whole process was recorded and later verified by Guinness officials after it was submitted.

“I see this bridge every single day when I drive by the highway and so it’s pretty exciting to know that,” engineer Oama Big, who works nearby, said.

 “What really interests me the most is it runs right across one of the largest highways in all of North America and also its unique architecture,” he said.

The bridge was completed in 2018 and is considered a feat of engineering, crossing 14 highway lanes, six live rail tracks and a city road.

It provides easy access for transit users, connecting the Pickering Go Train station in the south to the Pickering Town Centre, offices, regional transit and college campuses in the north end.

“When we wanted this bridge built, we wanted the Go station to Pickering and what we’ve done here is connect Pickering to the world,” said Mayor Dave Ryan.

“This was something that was conceived back in 1993 and it took a number of years for that happen.”

The world record has caught transit users who cross the bridge by surprise.

I thought that there were bridges bigger than this so I’m pretty surprised,” Emily Dunseith said.

“I remember before it was built, so it’s really cool that something in Pickering is well known. It’s really awesome.”

The bridge’s iconic architecture is highlighted at night with close to 300 LED lights.

This Guinness World Record is not the first accolade for the GTA bridge. In 2019, it earned the City of Pickering’s Urban Design Award and the Engineering News Record Global Best Projects Award in the tunnel/bridge category.