taste_is_sweet. Stuck on a Bridge (Reply)

Consider The Leaside Bridge in Toronto. Spanning the Don Valley (and the Don Valley Parkway); originally built in 1927 and now carrying six lanes of traffic; current contender for second favourite suicide magnet after the Golden Gate Bridge now that the Prince Edward Viaduct (commonly called the Bloor Street Viaduct) had a barrier built onto it in 1999; about to have prominent mention in the second half of chapter nine because one of the characters will vaguely consider jumping off it.

And, apparently, the Leaside Bridge has a catwalk which runs right underneath, is wide enough for one person to walk along and would be extremely easy to throw one's self from, not to mention avoid the scrutiny of all the bicyclists, other pedestrians and cars on the bridge above.

It would be really cool to have this character get onto the catwalk (the information I've read about it online says it's very easy to do). The only problem is that I spent over 13 years in Toronto before moving to Texas, and I had no clue about the catwalk under the Leaside Bridge, and this character is an American who's only been in Toronto for a few months.

So...would he know about the catwalk? He's not really committed to ending his life so this isn't something he would have researched, but maybe bridges having catwalks is common knowledge and it's just that I'm too much of a dork to know it? Do any of you guys live in places with bridges that have catwalks underneath them? Did you know about it?

The thing that constantly amazes me (and drives me nuts) about writing is that I can be barreling along at full-tilt, sure I'll finish a chapter in a day or so, only to suddenly need some small yet suddenly completely vital piece of information that brings everything to a screeching halt. I haven't written more than 200 words today, and it's already 3:30. :( But I've done over an hour of research on a bridge.