Big plan for Edmonton’s river valley released
Big plan for Edmonton’s river valley
Mike Sadava, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Thursday, March 15, 2007
It's all over but the funding.
An ambitious $605-million plan was unveiled today to create a continuous river valley park from Fort Saskatchewan to Devon complete with 12 new pedestrian bridges, new trails, docks, and eventually new attractions such as an aquarium.
While the River Valley Alliance's latest plan flushes out the details of what is being touted as Edmonton's version of Stanley Park, the lobbying of the federal and provincial government for the funding to make it possible has not yet started.
Sol Rolingher, chair of the River Valley Alliance, vowed that the plan, which itself cost $1.6 million to prepare, won't gather dust.
"The million people here won't accept that," Rolingher told a news conference at the Oldtimers Cabin overlooking the river valley.
Residents of seven municipalities from Parkland County to Sturgeon County want the valley connected and protected for their children and grandchildren, he said.
"Truly this is a situation where the sum of the parts is much greater than the individual pieces," Rolingher said.
"The price tag is a lot, I won't hide that," he said. "We can't ignore it, but we have to deal with it."
The individual municipal councils represented on the alliance will each ratify the plan over the next six months, and then the lobbying of MLAs and provincial and federal cabinet ministers right up to Prime Minister Stephen Harper will begin.
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