A new North Sask River pedestrian bridge to nowhere?

A bicycle/pedestrian bridge over the North Saskatchewan River is nearing completion in Edmonton's booming southwest corner, attached to new Anthony Henday Drive bridge.
The link -- as shown in the attached photo -- will be the only pedestrian river crossing between the Quesnell bridge and Devon.
But it may be a bridge to nowhere if off-leash dog walkers and dirt track mountain bikers who use Terwillegar Park have their way.
Last spring, they persuaded City Hall to halt the extension of a multi-use trail through the park to the bridge site.
They claimed that providing a wide, smooth trail would eventually see Terwillegar become another Hawrelak Park. They want to preserve it as a huge off-leash park with only rough dirt trails for cyclists.
Terwillegar has been held in reserve for park use for several decades and the off-leash dog walkers and mountain bikers gravitated to it. Fair enough.
But must the status quo be preserved indefinitely? Who speaks for citizens at large, for cyclists who may wish to commute through the park to the city centre?
Terwillegar is supposed to be an integral part of the "ribbon of green" involving valley parks and an 88-km multi-use trail from Fort Saskatchewan to Devon. Who will champion the ribbon of green?
The River Valley Alliance, a private corporation involving Edmonton, Devon, Fort Saskatchewan and four area counties, claims that its main goal is to "facilitate" the ribbon of green.
But this group which meets in private and produces no annual reports takes a "hands-off" approach to trail development in the park.
Sol Rolingher, an Edmonton lawyer who chairs the Alliance, says while a trail through the park is part of the ribbon of green, they will not take a public stand on it.

Update, 21 Jan '08
Nothing has changed in three years. The dirt track between the bridge and Terwillegar Park is still fit only for mountain bikers and hikers. When it's wet and muddy, it's almost unusable.
The City continues taking baby steps in extending the Ribbon of Green public spaces and trail in southwest Edmonton. It recently bought the large flood plain opposite Terwillegar and below the Edmonton Country Club and will hold it in reserve for park use.
Construction will start later this year on a pedestrian bridge linking the upstream end of Fort Edmonton with this new park reserve which is a key element of the RoG. Another pedestrian bridge is needed to link the upstream end of this land with Terwillegar Park.
The River Valley Alliance is still dead on arrival as far as becoming a public advocate for the RoG and reviving the Parks Department's plan for a multi-use trail linking Terwillegar and the Henday bridge...