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Their battle has been a long one as the residents of three homes on Kirkhams Road and Ward 42 (Scarborough-Rouge River) Councillor Raymond Cho fight to stop the road from becoming a sole-access cul-de-sac.

Colin Lathe's mother Sheila lives on Kirkhams Road.

"The issue is not just about the residents on the this street. This is about the community. It's a larger issue," he said during a deputation before the city's public works and infrastructure committee on Wednesday, May 7, morning.

His mother urged the committee to consider the historical significance of the Kirkhams Road bridge, one of the first to cross the Rouge River.

Stan Poulton, a Kirkhams Road resident since 1964, also spoke at the meeting expressing his views on cost inaccuracies related to the bridge demolition project.

"How can councillors vote on something when you don't know the costs?" Poulton asked during his deputation.

John Gamble, Poulton's lawyer, spoke about the option of using $611,000 to repair the bridge. The money, originally set aside for a now-defunct ski hill, remains in a trust fund. It was collected when trucks used the bridge to access the former Beare Road landfill.

The Kirkhams Road bridge has actually been closed to vehicular traffic for more than two years now. A once busy access point, the bridge has since fallen into disrepair and was closed for safety reasons.

Removing the bridge, creating a cul-de-sac on the north and south sides of the river for turning vehicles and relocating a watermain pipe that is currently attached to the bridge to beneath the river is the alternative that the city's works and public infrastructure committee voted to send to city council.

"This is a torturous decision," said committee member and Ward 33 (Don Valley East) Councillor Shelley Carroll, adding that it's time to forward on this issue.

"Eventually the bridge could collapse on its own leaving The (Metro Toronto) zoo and nearby residents with a serious emergency water issue," she said before wishing the residents all the best in communicating their concerns to the Ministry of the Environment over the next 30 days.

Committee chair Glenn de Bearemaeker (Ward 38, Scarborough Centre) agreed.

"This is the right thing to do and this is what we should be doing," he said. "From an ecological perspective this is a better route. � I find no ecological or public policy argument as to why we should go against the (Environmental Assessment) process."

During the meeting, Ward 41 (Scarborough-Rouge River) Councillor Chin Lee raised two motions in favour of maintaining the bridge and the attached watermain as is on behalf of Cho.

Representatives from Toronto Water, said that their plan is to bury the watermain regardless of whether or not the bridge is demolished.

A guest speaker at the meeting, Cho said that his focus is the health and safety of his constituents pointing to the fact that in the event of a fire or medical emergency vehicles would have to make a detour on the Meadowvale Avenue bridge to access the road. City staff has also deemed that this is a suitable option.

"I'm not here to make any political point to get votes," Cho said. "If this bridge were maintained properly I don't think we'd would be here today. I think we really have to be concerned about the house safety issue."

Cho also questioned Toronto and Region Conservation' views on why removing the bridge and relocating the watermain are good ideas.

"I will keep fighting at council," he assured.

"Even the tie vote shows that this committee struggled with this issue."