Next to Riverfront Park is a long Footbridge over the Fraser River which has a long history of controversy and becomes the first bridge in Quesnel over the Fraser River. In August of 1928 Construction of Ministry of Transportation Bridge #59 begins. The bridge has five spans, 3 @ 177 ft. and 2 @ 150 ft. Total length – 831 ft. - load capacity = 10 tonnes – (i.e. - designed for traffic no heavier than a horse-drawn wagon and occasional flivver) Howe Truss System. Original plan for steel piers is abandoned in favor of concrete. Original plan to build a steel structure is abandoned in favor of wood.
March 9, 1929 - The new Fraser River Bridge opens for traffic.
1929-1972 - The bridge is used daily by humans, horses, horse drawn vehicles, cars, trucks, bicycles, buses, and tractors, and perhaps most famously, for annual cattle drives of herds as large as 400 led by ranchers from Nazko, Chilcotin, Batnuni, Eucheniko and beyond, including Pan Phillips. Sadly, the bridge is also witness to several suicides over the years when unhappy victims make their fateful leap into the formidable Fraser River below.
Late 1960s - The bridge is condemned.
1972 - The replacement Moffat Bridge is constructed – old Fraser River bridge is relegated for pedestrian use only.