livinghistory
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the west side started
to grow and become a part of our city. Now crossing the
river wasn’t about leaving Lethbridge, but about going
to another part of the city. Developing the west side also
helped the river valley further reclaim the prominence it
once had, as it became the jewel of parkland between the
two sides of the community.
However, crossing the river became an even bigger
challenge with more people needing to go between the two
sides of the city on a regular basis. The City of Lethbridge
looked to the province to fund a second bridge, but it wasn’t
an easy sell. It wasn’t until the University of Lethbridge was
opened that provincial representatives became convinced.
As the story goes, it was a foggy drive, on slick roads, to
the grand opening of the University of Lethbridge in 1972
when Premier Peter Lougheed was able to personally
experience the nine-mile odyssey that was travelling to our
city’s west side. “Whether the trip had anything to do with
it is debatable, but Premier Lougheed announced at the
university that Clarence Copithorne, his Minister of Highways
and Transport, had made his inspection and the decision had
been made to build a bridge,” states Dr. Alex Johnston in his
book Lethbridge, From Coal Town to Commercial Centre: A
Business History. Regardless of whether this version of the
Whoop-Up Drive Bridge’s approval is accurate, in the early
1970s the bridge was given the green light.
Once the decision was made to build the bridge, a
discussion that will likely seem familiar to Lethbridgians
Construction of the Whoop-Up Drive Bridge, 1974.
today followed: where to build it. And, of course, how to
acquire the necessary land.
In the March 11, 1974, issue of the Lethbridge Herald the
City of Lethbridge placed an expropriation notice outlining
that “the City of Lethbridge desires to expropriate certain
lands in the City of Lethbridge for the purpose permitted
22 LETHBRIDGELIVING.COM
by The Municipal Government Act, namely for an approach
road right-of-way to the Sixth Avenue South interconnecting
bridge across the Oldman River to West Lethbridge in the
City of Lethbridge as authorized by Bylaw No. 3137 of the
City of Lethbridge.” The land that was expropriated was
606 to 614 Fourth Street South. The notice also noted
that the “City of Lethbridge is ready to pay the sum of
FOURTEEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED ($14,500) DOLLARS
for the interest in 0.11 acres of land more or less required
for the said approach road right-of-way to the Sixth Avenue
Bridge to cross the Oldman River to West Lethbridge.”
Disagreements and legal issues with land owners relating
to the bridge construction followed, but finally the site was
chosen: the bridge would extend west from Sixth Avenue
South, west, across the river.
Construction of the bridge also had ripple effects
throughout the