As an avid Centennial Trail cyclist I well know how ridiculously long the Barker Bridge project took – way more than ample time to do it right environmentally and ecologically, for sure.

During construction, rather than take the CT-signed detour, I rode to the bridge itself and portaged around the “do not cross” fence. I walked my bike under the bridge and was just totally aghast at how crude and dirty the construction site and work there was with regard to the river and its accessibility.

It was easy to see how mudflows and minerals could easily just flow straight into the river. The City of Spokane Valley is, I assume, ultimately responsible since it permitted and was supposedly to watchdog all. But in my opinion they, the contractors, engineers and others on that project, should be collectively held responsible for blatantly ignoring what should have been done to protect our river for us all.

Jeff Clausen

Spokane Valley