Bridge closure blocks footbridge
Trail ‘an important link’ for Hudson neighbourhoods
The sudden closure of a footbridge on a popular pedestrian path in Hudson that connects residential neighbourhoods with two elementary schools and the village centre has locals worried about the safety of schoolchildren and other residents forced to walk on busy streets if they can’t take the trail.
Last week, the town of Hudson announced on its Facebook page that the footbridge linking Upper and Lower McNaughten would be closed due to “circumstances beyond our control.” Workers boarded up the bridge and put up no-trespassing signs.
Within days, the boards were ripped off and thrown in the bushes.
Seiji Gutierrez, who lives in the neighbourhood and walks his dog on the path almost every day, said the path is an essential pedestrian link for schoolchildren to safely walk to the two adjacent elementary schools, as well as others who needs to go to and from the village centre without a car.
“It’s not only a shortcut. It’s a main artery to town for a lot of people who live up here,” he said. “It is an important trail.”
Without the bridge, he said, pedestrians need to either travel on busy Cameron St., which has blind corners and no sidewalk, or take a detour of up to a kilometre to walk on quieter streets.
Mayor Jamie Nicholls said the wooden bridge was built years ago as a temporary replacement after the previous bridge was damaged in a storm. But when the new bridge was built, it was located on private land instead of the section of the trail owned by the town.
Nicholls said the town had to block access to the bridge after receiving a formal request from the owner of one of the properties linked by the bridge.
“It’s a widely used pathway. it’s an important link between neighbourhoods, but the fact that the bridge is on private property is problematic and we have to respect private property rights,” he said.
Nicholls said town administrators are working to set up a meeting with the property owners this week to negotiate a right of passage to use the bridge.
“We’re entering into these negotiations in good faith and so are they. I’m optimistic we’ll arrive at a solution that will be in the best interest of the town,” he said.
But town councillor Jim Duff said this issue is not new, and should have been dealt with long ago. He said has seen correspondence between the homeowner and the town going back several years.
For Duff, the business of the bridge is just one of many issues that have gone too long without being dealt with properly by the town.
“From the tone of the chain of correspondence it sounded like it began very civilly and it sounded like there would be an agreement but that never took place. And now we’re at this impasse and lawyers are involved,” he said. “I find that disgusting. It’s a dereliction of duty and a failure of governance. It disgusts me that we’ve come to this point.”