No timeline for new Mira Gut bridge
MLA still expecting minister to visit local area
Construction of a new Mira Gut bridge will not take place anytime soon.
Marla MacInnis, spokesperson for the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal, said there is no timeline in place.
“Normally when a bridge is identified as needing repair that kind of prep work starts ahead of time,” she said. “However where that bridge failed us that work hadn’t happened yet. All that work needs to happen now while there’s no structure in place which is difficult.”
MacInnis said a boat survey has been completed to help better understand boat clearance requirements.
“They are looking at all different designs, what they would look like and what the costs associated would be.”
MacInnis said this will help evaluate potential designs such as a swing bridge, a higher bridge or other options.
Main-a-Dieu resident Ken Wadden said he doesn’t feel good about hearing the latest news since the bridge has been gone since November.
“How much time do they need? This just didn’t happen overnight.”
Wadden has been vocal about the loss of the bridge and its effect on the community. He wants to know what the department is actually doing.
The detour means a 30-40-minute drive for residents.
“I’m worried about it all especially about the emergencies,” he said. “Especially this time of year as what happens if there’s a fire? Even with lobster fishing going on if a boat gets loose and lands on the other side of the beach, without a bridge you’d have to drive all the way around.”
Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg MLA Alfie MacLeod said he discussed the situation with Transportation Minister Lloyd Hines who is expecting a report on potential options for the Mira Gut bridge by the end of May.
MacLeod said he is concerned about the timeline as well as it’s a 20-km detour for individuals.
The MLA is also questioning the review process to evaluate bridges.
“I’m no expert by any stretch of the imagination and I’m not an engineer but I wouldn’t think those things could happen so quickly where Monday it was good and today it’s not,” he said.
“A fair question is ‘have you looked at your inspection program and are you looking at a way to deal with it better, so we don’t have this situation in other communities’?”
Wadden has also been vocal about the deteriorating roads through Bateson, Main-a-Dieu and Louisbourg.
Wadden said crews are suddenly out patching the roads in Main-aDieu which he believes is happening because Hines is expected to visit the area this month.
“After seeing the roads in this state for 20 years and then all of a sudden everyone is working on them, people are not stupid,” he said. “That’s the only reason they are doing this now, to make them look better when the minister comes.”
Wadden said the potholes will be back by fall.
“Everyone I talk to has the same complaint.”
MacInnis said crews are doing general maintenance work on the Main-a-Dieu Road as well as pre-engineering work for the bridge.
“It’s preliminary work being done to tell us what the need is and what that cost would be. That data is used in the decision-making process and helps determine what is a priority and will be used in a future tender call.”
MacLeod said on Monday he and the transportation department’s district manager drove the Brickyard Road and several other roads in the area and the discussion centred on paving parts of the village of Main-aDieu, Little Lorraine Road and the Brickyard Road.
MacLeod said pre-engineering work is underway on parts of the road including from Louisbourg to Main-a-Dieu.
The only major paving project he knows of now is the completion of the Hornes Road which is part of the detour for the Mira Gut bridge.
MacLeod said he is also waiting to hear when Hines will visit the area.
“That’s why I had the district manager there Monday to show him what these roads are like now and that they need to be fixed sooner than later,” he said.
“Part of the reason I want the minister here for a tour is then when he does get the list and sees these roads on it he’ll understand about them.”