A popular, but unsanctioned, bike bridge in Gold Bar Park is set to be torn down by the City, citing safety concerns despite objections from cyclists.
It's not clear when the bridge was first built, but it's proven popular with bikers, dog walkers and hikers.
"It's a great structure, with concrete, steel and wood," said mountain biker Adam Farrell, adding the bridge is a marked improvement on what was there before. "The old crossing was way sketchier than this."
"That's way safer than anything that's been out here before," said trail user Nik Wolgemuth.
The City says it had been unaware of the bridge until a complaint came in via 311 in June.
"When we get the complaint we have to go in, and once we know about it we don't have a lot of choice," said Ward 8 Coun. Ben Henderson.
"I understand why people would like it to remain, but I don't think in the short term there's any way to make that happen."
Henderson said a crew has been out to assess the span and despite the bridge's robust appearance, found it to fall short of safety codes.
The bridge is also a jurisdictional junction, with Imperial Oil owning the land on one side of the creek, the City owning land on the other side and the creek itself falling under provincial administration.
"Every bridge that the city does goes through this arduous process of getting the permissions about crossing water bodies like that," said Henderson.
Imperial Oil says it only recently learned of the bridge but has had signs posted for years warning crossers the bridge enters private property.
"It's something we don't maintain for the public," said Keri Scobie with Imperial Oil.
"We’ve done some environmental restoration work, so for the ongoing rehabilitation and revegetation of those areas we need people to stay off."
It's not clear exactly when the bridge will be dismantled, but bikers are dismayed.
"The fun of it is that it is a little bit dangerous," said Farrell.
"We all ride and we all know the risks, it's not like it's an unknown factor."
With files from Jeremy Thompson
