Group protests Edmonton's plans to tear down Cloverdale footbridge

Standing above the North Saskatchewan, with the water running below and the rain pattering down, over a hundredEdmontonians held hands chanting "save our bridge."

They stretched from the south to the north across the Cloverdale footbridge in a show of support for the structure they love.

Kristine Kowalchuk, one of the organizers of the event said this is "representative of what happens on the bridge every day."

"Any time you come to this area, any day, you see so many people of diverse ages doing diverse activities 365 days a year," she said.

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The group was protesting the planned demolition of the bridge to make room for the new Valley LRT line. Saturday's protest comes one day after the "Save the Footbridge" group hijacked the cities LRT announcement.

The group wanted to get a thousand out to the bridge but say the day's cold weather prevented many from attending.

They suggest that an alternative route could be built that would save the bridge but Mayor Don Iveson said no other plan would perform as well as the planned route.

"We spent a phenomenal amount of time evaluating other routes at the early stage, and then when they asked us to look at alternatives, I can't tell you the amount of staff time my office and city engineers spent," Iveson said Friday.

"I hear their frustration but it's time to move on and build this project."

Margaret Russellbraved the grey April weather to add her voice to the protest. She first moved to the Bonnie Doonareaten years ago. She saidthe bridge was a big reason as "she yearned for a river."

The city confirmed there are plans to build a new pedestrian walkway but it could take up to four years to complete.

Russell said she understands that council had to make a decision andhopes, that if the new bridge is built, it shares a resemblance to the one being torn down.

"The new bridge that I saw in the paper has a concrete path and it's just not the same as the wood bridge we have here," said Russell.

"I'll be very sorry to lose this bridge."