The Laurie Boyd Bridge is getting an upgrade in the next two years.

The Town of Okotoks approved a $200,000 budget for a brand new structure to be designed and built in 2018.

Municipal Engineer for the Town Marley Oness says the bridge coming over from Sheep River Park to the Okotoks Library needs to be wider to better serve the community.

"Structurally the old one is fine, it's just too narrow and currently you can't have a bicycle and a pedestrian can't really pass each other without having to dismount," he says. "It's just not functioning that well and we need it to made wider so it can be better utilized."

With the new bridge coming in, Oness says there will more room for uninterupted leisure activities.

"It's going to be probably a four meter wide bridge, it will be just a little wider than our regional pathways but wide enough to send a maintenance vehicle across if needed to."

The current bridge is not in any need of repair and is perfect safe the way it is, but Oness says it will be difficult to move the current bridge to a new location because of it's design specifically to its location.

"The old bridge is just inadequate for our regional pathway system just given the narrowness of the bridge. The plan is just to complete a detailed design this year and subject to construction budget approval, build the bridge next year."

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