Hundreds of Salem & Keizer Residents Join Walking Bridge Parade (VIDEO)

Salem bought the bridge for a dollar approximately five years ago, and Saturday it became reality.

Photo and video by Tim King Salem-News.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - The sun came out for a wonderful celebration Saturday in Salem as hundreds gathered for the dedication of the city's new walking and bike bridge.

The new attraction is based on the city's historic railroad bridge that has been unused for years.

Approximately five years ago, Salem bought it from Southern Pacific for a dollar. Saturday it became reality.

In the beginning there were many objections to the idea, and some of the points raised; such as how to deal with the aging counterweights, seemed like they could prove to be an ultimate roadblock.

But in the end Salem Mayor Janet Taylor and the city council were able to see the project through.

The hundreds of residents who showed up for the dedication seemed like a testimony to not only the fact that the bridge restoration worked out, but also to the fact that local residents will use it.

========================================================

Video

-----------------------------------------------------

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor.
Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 in Afghanistan with Oregon troops. Tim recently returned from Iraq where he covered the war there while embedded with an Oregon Guard aviation unit. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated with Google News and several other major search engines and news aggregators.
You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com