A new pedestrian bridge across the American River is still a big, bright bold idea.

And nearly 15 years after initial funding of $500,000 was pledged, the idea of spanning the river belowAuburn is gaining some renewed momentum.

Auburn’s environmental group Protect American River Canyons (PARC) is taking a lead.

A letter-writing campaign to State Parks officials has generated hundreds of pleas for consideration of a bridge and improved public access to the China Bar area.

Located off Auburn’s Maidu Drive, the China Bar area is in the Auburn State Recreation Area on land owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and operated by State Parks.

It’s part of the site of the long-delayed Auburn dam and was once a river crossing, when the stretch of the waterway was underground, flowing through a diversion tunnel built during construction in the 1960s.

More at AuburnJournal.com >>>