Sturgeon River Pedestrian Bridge

completed

Closed

Sturgeon Lake First Nation (SLFN) is a community of 1867 members living on Reserve 101, with more than 40% of those being between the ages of 0-19 and an additional 51% of members being between 20-64 yrs old. The current development patterns are a blend of rural and suburban development strategies, which resulted in a subdivison being located at each end of the commuunity - more than 15 kilometers apart from one another, with the east subdivison complemented by the store and sprots grounds, and the west subdivision complemented by primary community services such as the school, Child and Family Servics, the Health Clinic, to name a few. This development pattern results in a long commute for our members, many of which are reliant on social assitance and Band-owned housing to survive. Similar to most indigenous communities, SLFN members face a number of significant health challenges (ex. Diabetes, mental health, etc.) that stem from living in poverty and/or contending with intergenerational trauma caused by systemic failures over time. Unfortunately, our community has never been afforded the opportunity to provide a parks and network of safe pathways to promote healthy and active lifestyles and offer members opportunities to be healthy and to bypass automobille transportation for more active modes of transport. Over the past number of yers, a concerted effort has been put towards improving our community to a level somewhat consistent to our municipal neighbours. We recognize a shift away from being auto-dependent will require educational components, which will be develivered as part of our Active Transportation Plan, but also the capital infrastructure to help bring convenience to the decision to shift away from our current auto-dependent mentality. For many years, our members have be relegated to walking along the 17 kilometer Sturgeon Lake Road,which serves as a transportation spine through our community. Our members contend daily with vehicles travelling at high rates of speed and bilowing a cloud of exhaust, wind, debris and dust behind them. These conditions are not only unsafe, but are unhealthy for our community members who have no where else to gain safe access the daily services and programs our community administers. For time immemorable, our community members have been asking for a pedestrian bridge to be developed across the Sturgeon River, to offer a safe corridor from our east subdivision to the Sturgeon Lake Store, where groceries and other household items are sold, and the sports grounds where baseball, soccer and toher sports are held. Currently, pedestrians are requried to walk around on the Sturgeon Lake Road, crossing the Sturgeon River on a narrow two lane bridge at the bottom of a valley and curve. There ahve been many near misses and incidents involving vehicles and pedestrians at this location in our community, with dusk, dawn and evening presenting the most significant risk.

Canada

Infrastructure Canada

Project

Wind, Government, Hospital, Road, Automotive, Bridge, Residential, Commercial