New Tawatin Bridge reconnects 2 communities over North Saskatchewan River

To some pomp and circumstance, including drumming and a marching band, the Tawatin Bridge opened to the public on a chilly Sunday afternoon connecting the Edmonton neighbourhoods Riverdale and Cloverdale once again.

Nearly100 residents from theneighbourhoods, separated for five yearsafter the old bridge was demolished, showed up to check out the new LRT/pedestrian link.

Olivia Soukup, a Riverdale resident, told CBC's Edmonton AMsome of her most cherished memories are attached to the old bridge.

"As a teenager, I used to trundle across this bridge to go to the Folk Fest and stumble home," she said on Sunday, her voice cracking.

"I just have such great memories of coming down here and looking at the view and and just the peace and the quiet."

Residents of the neighbourhoods were vocal in their opposition tothe demolition oftheir beloved Cloverdale Bridge. Between 2014 and 2016, residents pushed back against the city,even organizing a protest where residents held hands across the bridge.

But once the bridge was demolished, the long wait for the new onebegan. Construction wasdelayed whencrews hit a large concrete mass in the river in 2018.

Soukup said she worried that withLRT trainsrunning overhead, the new bridge would not hold a candle to the old one. But on Sunday, looking at the familiar view of the North Saskatchewan River, she was content with what she saw.

"I have to say, the artwork andthe thought that's gone into it, it's quite beautiful," she said.

Other residents were excited about finally reconnecting with their neighbours.

"We really felt isolated," said Danny Hoyt, past president of the Riverdale Community League.

He hopesthe bridge willrestore the link not only forhumans but also wildlife of the area.

"We've had coyotes nesting in Riverdale that would normally have transit across here. So it's an animal corridor as well," he said.

The ceiling of the footbridge is filled with more than 500 worksof colourful Indigenous art.

Mtis artist David Garneausaid he originallythought 100 paintings would be enough, but when looking at what the bridge meansto the area, realized hewould have to do many more.

"It's really bridging two sides, two cultures, but it's also a space in between," Garneau said. "There's a lot of nature, a lot of First Nations made history here, but it's all in fragments.

"To me, there are pictures and storytellers have to come and knit them together to explain what the meanings are."

LRTtrains will start using the bridge onthe 13-kilometreSoutheastValleyLine linkingMill Woods todowntown sometime next year.