Construction on a controversial portion of the southwest ring road came to a stop this weekend after an environmental appeal was filed by opponents who say it will damage the adjacent wetlands.

A group called YYC Cares started working on the paperwork in March and helped file the appeal.

The area in question is near the Weaslehead Flats and the concern is over the plan to build an older-style, dirt berm that fills in 24 wetlands over the Elbow River.

Opponents of the project want a redesign, which would see an open-span bridge built like the one used over the Bow River portion of Stoney Trail.

“This is not an unreasonable request at all, it's something they’ve done before and it can be done quite fast,” said Allie Tulik from YYC Cares. “We can’t be building berms as our mitigations for floods anymore.”

YYC Cares says the berm style negatively affects wildlife, flood mitigation and water quality.

“It also increases the velocity of the river, which is also dangerous for carrying toxins and sediments into the reservoir. There's just a lot of problems with this design and this environment, it just doesn't work,” said Tulik.

Calgary's mayor says it makes sense to address the concerns now.

“That's the process, it makes a ton of sense and if those concerns can be mitigated either through the design of the existing bridge or through a clear-span bridge without delaying the project too much, that's not a bad thing,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi.

The Alberta transportation minister's office says an environmental assessment was done before construction began but that it is ‘committed to ensuring this project meets environmental standards and respects the process.’

The Environmental Appeals Board granted the stay until Friday and now has to decide whether the resident who filed the appeal is directly affected by the project.

“On Saturday morning the board granted a temporary stay,” said Gilbert van Ness, Environmental Appeals Board general counsel. “Sometime on Friday afternoon we’ll decide whether we will officially accept the notice of appeal.”

If the notice is accepted, the board will then decide whether or not to continue the stay until the appeal is heard, which would likely take place two to three weeks later.

For more information on the Southwest Calgary Ring Road project, click HERE.