A fundraising campaign is underway to pay for a footbridge over the Hespler Drain in Plum Coulee.

The structure, measuring about 160 feet in length, will allow pedestrians to safely cross the ravine in order to get from one side of town to the other.

June Letkeman is part of the small committee behind the project and says this is something that's been needed in the community for about 10 years.

"Especially now since we are going to have a development behind The Happy Wanderer, and that is on one side of Plum Coulee, so we really need this pedestrian bridge to connect...to the downtown area," she explained.

She adds the bridge is also about safety, noting pedestrians currently have to use the traffic bridge on Highway 306 to get across the waterway.

"Which is a very busy highway, and the speed limit is seventy kilometres an hour. It's not safe for our children to cross that bridge."

The group has been actively involved in the planning process with some engineering help from a pair of locals, Justin Wiebe and Kyle Wiebe. Most of the discussions have been with Manitoba Infrastructure centring on the department's requirements for such structures. However, Letkeman says the committee recently learned that the bridge also needs to comply with the latest of the CSA standards, ultimately pushing up the original cost estimate of $280,000 to $350,000.

"We were really hoping we could do with less but unfortunately we have to have those standards," said Letkeman.

As a result, the committee will be relying heavily on community support and grants to get this project off the ground. In fact, the group has kicked off its first fundraiser, a raffle for $1,000 towards the purchase of winter tires at Sun Valley Tire as well as box tickets to a Manitoba Moose game.

"I know the community is behind us all the way," said Letkeman. She noted the committee consists only of 5 people and says anyone that is interested in becoming a part of the effort is welcome to join.

There is no timeline for the project to get started.