Judge to decide whether to stop LRT construction
Injunction could cost taxpayers millions, city spokesperson says
A judge will decide Wednesday whether or not to save the Cloverdale footbridge, a move that could potentially cost the city millions of dollars.
The Save Edmonton's Downtown Footbridge Community asked for an injunction to stop LRT construction in the river valley and prevent the demolition of the footbridge, which is scheduled for September.
The group discovered a provincial agreement from 1975 that requires the city to get approval from the environment minister before it can develop river valley parkland.
Associate Chief Justice John Rooke heard arguments from the group and the city on Tuesday, and reserved his decision until Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.
The city claims the old agreement dug up in the archives has lapsed, and been replaced with more up-to-date bylaws, which the city has followed.
However, neither side could provide evidence the agreement ever officially became void.
Rooke said the city has the authority to build river crossings, but they must be compatible with other responsibilities, such as protecting parkland.
Rooke's comments gave hope to the group, which wants him to put an immediate stop to LRT construction that began nearly four months ago.
"He seemed to understand the issue," said Eric Gormley, who filed the affidavit on behalf of the save the footbridge group. "It wasn't necessarily about money but it was about protecting parks."
The group ultimately wants the city to reroute the Valley Line along existing river crossings to avoid undue damage to the valley or the Cloverdale footbridge.
But Rooke said he can't order the city to do that.
"There may be better ways to doing it, but it's not the court's job to re-engineer it," Rooke said.
City spokesperson Quinn Nicholson said even if Rooke decides the 1975 agreement must be enforced, an injunction would be inappropriate. Instead, he said, the city should have time to simply get a signed letter of approval from the government.
The environment department has reviewed the city's plans for the Valley Line, and the previous government committed $600 million to the first phase of the project, including a $150-million interest-free loan to be repaid by the city over 10 years.
"You're into the hundreds of millions at that point," Nicholson said.
He said the city wasn't aware of the 1975 agreement before Gormley filed his affidavit with the court. The city has since approached the province to inform the government of Gormley's claim.