An issue since the late 1960s, the studies leading to the current state of planning began in 1989 with UMA Engineering, the company which has recently been awarded the half million dollar contract to coordinate the design of the bridge. The project was promised by a Yukon Party/Coalition government in the early 1990s, but was shelved before its mandate ended. It became part of the current Yukon Party platform during the last election and was announced as a possible project by Premier Fentie at a meeting here in February. About a month later the announcement was formalized by Economic Development Minister Jim Kenyon at a chamber of commerce meeting in Dawson. At the time (March 3) the bridge was to have been ready for use in 2007, but the latest project outline on display at the open house shows this date has been pushed back to 2008. Though there is some local confusion on this issue, any consultation currently under way in the town has nothing to do with the decision as to whether or not a bridge will be built. The committee of locals assembled and pictured so prominently on the cover of the report of the Design-Phase Partnering Workshop, produced by the firm of Andrew Johnson, was only called into being to comment on possible designs and locations for a project which Premier Fentie described as a done deal when he introduced it here last winter. In fact, members of the town’s planning board have indicated that there did not seem to have been any thought of putting together a group to discuss these issues before the board drafted a letter demanding that it have some input. The committee included members of the Planning Board, the Klondike Visitors Association, the Chamber of Commerce, Parks Canada, and a number of people from both the federal and territorial governments. The resulting report, which is heavy on team building jargon and light on actual solutions to issues, does identify one clear priority amongst the many items that were part of the priority identification exercises the group went through. In the report this is called “concern about visual impact of the bridge on historic setting.” Five of the six options presented at the open house sessions fail to address that concern. Four of those options begin the crossing on the Dawson side within a few hundred metres of the current ferry landing, within the area often called the Bridgehead Reserve, requiring substantial changes to the downtown streetscape and the building of retaining walls. The fifth would start the bridge up in the gravel pit that was once the site of St. Mary’s Hospital, and does the least heritage damage of any of the downtown choices, but the information given at the open house and presented to the advisory board indicates that the ground there is thought to be unstable. The sixth option, which seems to have been dismissed by the planners due to costs, a need for new studies, and potential delay of the project, would have the bridge constructed south of town touching down on an island about the middle of its span. It would require negotiation with the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in, and some extensive road building to link it to the Top of the World and Klondike highways. These problems were also noted during discussions in the early 1990s. Computer generated models of two possible bridge designs (both running from George Street) were on display. a well as preliminary schematic drawings. In discussion the favoured design would appear to be the more modern bridge, which would require less maintenance. What impact this, or any, bridge in this area would have on attempts to have Dawson declared part of a Goldrush World Heritage Site has yet to be explored. In addition to the open houses the bridge proponents have been busy over the last week, delivering by mail a slick little brochure called the Bridge Newsletter #1 which was put out to promote the meetings. It inspired opponents of the project to produce their own Real Bridge Newsletter and stick it under the wipers of the vehicles whose owners were attending the open house. As there was no public meeting connected with this set of information sessions, there was no opportunity for debate, nor an occasion for people to take heated stands on one side of the issue or another. The posted timetable indicates that all the remaining pre-construction phases of the bridge project, including the design, the environmental assessment, regulatory approvals and site preparation work should be completed by the summer of 2005 and that the construction should begin in the fall, ending in 2008. Many of the documents so far produced for this project can be accessed on-line at http://www.gov.yk.ca/depts/eco/dap/dawson_city_bridgecd.html, or on a CD-ROM available at the public library. Further information is to be posted on a website at http://www.yukonriverbridge.com/index.htm, though so far this is just a home page address. | 
