Ross River residents continue fight to save foot bridge

Though tenders to demolish the decking of Ross River's suspension bridge were set to close last week, people in the community are still fighting to save it.

Kitty Sperling, who teaches at the Ross River campus of Yukon College, is pleading with the Yukon Government to reconsider its decision to demolish the 70-year-old bridge. 

"I might just be doing my whole suffragette routine and chain myself to that bridge if it comes to that," she said.

Sperling says while researching the bridge's history, she learned it's the longest single-span suspension footbridge in Canada and the U.S. The bridge is 319 metres long from anchorage to anchorage, with the bridge deck spanning 192 metres.

"People just sort of look at it as a bridge, as another bridge that's falling down — and it really isn't. It is much more than that. It has huge cultural significance and it has huge historical significance and it has wonderful significance in the sense of it being the longest."

Sperling has started a Facebook page where people can rally to save the bridge. 

Sperling has sent letters to the ministers of community services and tourism and to Stacey Hassard, the area's MLA,