Local News

Maple Bridge Climbing Route To Reopen

REDMOND, OR -- Redmond’s unique climbing route under the Maple Avenue Bridge in the Dry Canyon reopens this weekend. It was created in 2015 but officials shut down the route last year amid concerns the city or staff could be sued if someone got hurt while using the free feature.

 

Redmond Parks Division Manager Annie McVay says that changed when Governor Brown signed a new law. "In this past Legislative session, the recreational immunity statute that was sort of challenged in the past couple years by a few lawsuits was corrected and strengthened so that we were able to put the bridge back on our insurance policy." She tells KBND News safety was a concern from the beginning. "When we were proposing the idea of the bridge, of course, everyone’s first thought was, ‘oh, that’s so dangerous!’ when, in fact, it’s not.  So, we worked with our insurance company to go over all the safeguards of the bridge and had that worked out before we opened the bridge, two years ago."
 
Workers are reinstalling the bottom holds that were removed last year while the city waited for the Legislature to act. "We’ve been excited to reopen the bridge for a long time. We keep getting questions from local climbers about when it’s going to reopen. And, we’re so excited to have a definitive answer, now." The climbing route is open sunrise to sunset, starting Saturday.
 
McVay says a local climber is working with the city to plan the second route under the bridge. Click HERE to learn more about the site.

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