The city of Redmond has closed the acclaimed recreational climbing route it constructed underneath Maple Avenue Bridge after its insurance provider expressed concerns about liability.
Redmond’s insurance provider, Citycounty Insurance Services (CIS), decided it wouldn’t continue to cover the Maple Bridge Arches Climbing Project because of the impact of an unrelated lawsuit in Portland.
Annie McVay, Redmond’s parks and recreation manager, said the city doesn’t intend to permanently close the recreational climbing route and believes that the bridge is very safe.
“[The insurance company] called our risk management department in June [to] let us know that after the [Supreme Court decision] they were doing a review of their clients, and they felt there was a high risk and wouldn’t renew its coverage,” McVay said. “We tried to get [the insurance company] to reconsider…we really think that the activity is very safe and has a lot of safeguards…but it wasn’t successful.”
Maple Avenue Bridge is a 70-foot-tall and 780-foot-long concrete bridge located in Redmond’s Dry Canyon Park. The bridge was constructed in 2007 and features three 210-foot arch spans. In July 2015, the first climbing routes were developed.
When the recreational climbing route was first opened in July 2015, it wasn’t considered a liability risk due to the Oregon Public Use of Lands Act. The act protects public and private property owners from liability if their land is made available to the public free of charge.
However, when a legally blind runner injured herself in 2009 after stepping into a hole at a Portland park, she amended her initial lawsuit, naming only the employee who’d dug the hole as the defendant. The lawsuit went all the way to the Oregon Supreme Court, which decided that immunity isn’t extended to employees who maintain these properties.
The resulting ruling has caused insurance companies and the owners of parks and other recreational properties to reconsider their vulnerability to risk.
McVay said the city hopes to reopen the recreational climbing route next year by either self-insuring or via a legislative amendment that the city supports.
If you think you can help, the City of Redmond’s HR and Risk Management division is on (541) 923-7713
