A judge on Wednesday decided against granting an injunction to stop LRT development in Edmonton's river valley and prevent the demolition of the footbridge between Riverdale and Cloverdale.

Queen's Bench Associate Chief Justice John Rooke refused a request for an injunction from the group, called the Save Edmonton's Downtown Footbridge Community.

After the decision, the group said it will take some time to figure out if it has any remaining options to prevent the footbridge from being torn down in September.

"We've been at this for over three years now and we really have never stopped trying to save the footbridge park area," said Eric Gormley, who filed an affidavit on behalf of the footbridge group. "I don't think we're going to give up at this point."

The save the footbridge request for an injunction to stop LRT construction in the river valley is refused, says Ass. Chief Justice Rooke. —@LauraOsmanCBC

The footbridge group will take some time to figure out if they have any options to save the footbridge before it's torn down in Sept. —@LauraOsmanCBC

Granting an injunction would have brought LRT construction to a halt, potentially costing the city millions of dollars.

Rooke said the footbridge group was not abusing the process by bringing the issue forward.

He said while the footbridge and some park space will be lost, a new bridge will be built and more people will have access to the river valley using the expanded LRT.

Rooke delivered his decision a day after hearing arguments from the group and the city.

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.

The city claimed the old agreement dug up in the archives has lapsed, 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 found the agreement was never formally cancelled.

The city plans to work with the province to eliminate the old agreement.

"It's a technicality we'll work out with the government of Alberta," said city spokesperson Quinn Nicholson. "We're already in contact with the government to clarify this matter."

Rooke said the save-the-footbridge group won't have to pay any of the city's legal costs because the city has been "less than careful" about the 1975 agreement.

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