Dain City residents feeling isolated
Forks Road Bridge closed indefinitely just over a week ago
Though a canal divides and isolates them, Dain City residents are united in anger and shock over the sudden closure of the Forks Road Bridge.
The bridge, closed more than a week ago, is one of only two ways in and out of Welland’s most southern neighbourhood.
City of Welland staff deemed the bridge needed to be closed for public safety after an inspection found the span was deteriorating faster than anticipated. It had been closed for three weeks in 2016 and repairs were made that should have extended the bridge’s life.
“I was shocked. Something this big and you get notified so abruptly,” said Vi Vrbanac. “It’s a major concern for me and for all of the Dain City community.”
Vrbanac said she feels isolated now.
“I do a lot of business in Port Colborne. My grandchildren go to school there … all the children here go to school in Port Colborne,” she said, adding the extra time it takes to detour around the closure cuts into her volunteer time at the school.
She’s concerned if something happens to her grandchildren it will take her longer to get to Port Colborne.
Before the closure, Dain City residents could travel across the bridge and take either Elm Street or Highway 58 to the lakeside city. Now, she and all other residents on the east side of the former Welland Canal must travel north up Canal Bank Street/Kingsway to Townline Tunnel Road, and then head south on Highway 58.
It may only be an extra fiveminute commute but for Dave Borgatti it’s a personal inconvenience.
“I work on Elm Street (in Port Colborne) and a lot of other employees use Forks Road to go to work. My neighbour works in Dunnville and he uses it to get there,” he said.
Borgatti said it’s a safety issue with only one way in and out of the area.
He understands there is a proposed emergency route along the west side of the working Welland Canal but wondered who would be taking care of that road in the winter.
The road is a St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. access road that was open to the public for years, though not officially, but has since been closed. Openings at the south end of Kingsway and the east end of Forks Road are blocked with gates and cement barriers.
Resident Mike Konderka said he rides his ATV on the seaway access road and said it’s beaten up pretty badly.
While he likes the idea of having another exit strategy, something more needs to be done. Especially because there’s an older population in Dain City.
“We need something else to come through here.”
He said if train tracks on Canal Bank, where it turns into Kingsway at St. Clair Drive, are blocked it could take 10 minutes or more for an emergency services vehicle to backtrack to Humberstone Road to access the seaway road.
Augusto Duminuco believes the closure of the bridge threatens lives, especially with the Atlantic Biodiesel plant so close to homes.
Duminuco said in a worst-case scenario if there was a fire at the facility — it produces some 170 million litres of biodiesel and 15 million litres of high-grade glycerin per year — residents could be trapped in their neighbourhoods if Canal Bank/Kingsway was shut down.
“There are a lot of questions that need to be answered here,” he said, also concerned over possibility of a train derailment.
Like Borgatti, Duminuco said travelling the extra distance to get out of Dain City is an inconvenience.
“All the people that use Forks Road to get work … it makes it hard for them now.”
Borgatti said he is also concerned that if there is some sort of accident at Highway 58 and Townline Tunnel Road, access between Welland and Port Colborne would be completely cut off at the west end.
“It’s a major concern,” he said. “I’ve already seen an increase in traffic on Highway 58 since the closure … more traffic is being funnelled there.”
Jay Ventura, who owns a breakfast restaurant in Port Colborne with his wife, said he, too, has seen an increase in traffic on 58.
“It’s twice as busy now … all the transport trucks slow traffic way down because of hills on that street and all the exits they have to take,” said Ventura, who used the bridge daily to drop his children off at school and pick up restaurant supplies.
He wondered if opening up a road that runs between Colborne and Canal Bank streets, behind South Niagara Rowing Club, would be a viable access route.
“It may be a good alternative for the time being,” Ventura said.
Residents would like to see a short-term fix with a long-term solution or plan for a permanent fix or complete replacement.
“The last time it was fixed was a Band-Aid, we need to repair the bridge properly or replace it. We need a lifeline here,” said Konderka.
He, Borgatti, Ventura and Vrbanac wondered if some sort of I-beam could be set up at both ends of the bridge to prevent heavy truck traffic from crossing over. The I-beam would be set at a height that would not allow large trucks to cross.
It’s believed heavy truck traffic continued to use the bridge and contributed to its rapid deterioration despite posted weight restrictions.
“We own the bridge. We could eliminate all truck traffic on it … close it down to them,” said Ward 6 Coun. Jim Larouche.
Larouche plans to pitch the idea of making the bridge one lane of traffic, controlled by lights at either end and allowing private passenger vehicles only.
It’s an idea the others are behind.
Larouche and his fellow Ward 6 councillor, Bonnie Fokkens, plan to bring forward a motion about the closure at the final term meeting of council on Nov. 20.
He said there are or will be discussions with federal, provincial and regional levels of government on what to do about the bridge and possible funding opportunities.
“Everyone is coming together to work together to solve this very serious situation,” Larouche said.
Borgatti was glad to seheare the two ward councillors are taking the lead on the issue and listen to and work with those in the area, but said Dain City residents do feel isolated to a degree.
People Vrbanac has spoken with are upset and feel they are being neglected by the city.
“They wonder where their tax dollars are going,” she said. “This should have never happened the way it happened. We have been put in a very sad situation.”
Konderka thinks Dain City is getting the short end of the stick and said having just three days’ notice of the closure was unacceptable.
“It happened so fast … and to close it in just three days means it’s serious.”