Faulty driver to pay for Magog overpass repair
The driver who accidentally damaged the viaduct on Highway 141 above Autoroute 10 in Magog can expect to receive a bill of at least $350,000 from the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ), an MTQ spokesperson says.
Spokesperson Nomba Danielle has confirmed that all costs related repairing the damage will be recuperated from the person responsible for the Aug. 25 accident. On that date, a truck equipped with a mechanical shovel collided with the structure while heading toward Sherbrooke.
Danielle added that the ultimate bill is not limited to $350,000 because there are other related costs that have been incurred. Since the overpass has been closed to traffic, the cost of all the measures taken will be claimed directly from the person at fault." The MTQ has a maximum delay of three years to prosecute in this kind of case.
Before starting procedures, the Department’s priority is to complete the work as quickly as possible and the work is expected to last until mid-december. In particular, it will be necessary to repair the bridge deck and two beams, in addition to solidifying certain structures that were weakened by the force of the impact.
To do this, one lane per direction on Highway 10 has been closed to traffic since last Monday and the access ramp located near Couture Rd will be inaccessible as long as workers are on site. The other ramp, located near the St-hubert restaurant, could be closed sporadically as required.
Danielle says that there is no plan to totally close the highway as approximately 50,000 vehicles pass either over or under the overpass every day. “This is an important volume and the department has taken that into account," she concludes.
The Dixville Home Foundation launched its annual fundraising campaign on Wednesday morning at the Liverpool in Downtown Sherbrooke. Since being established in 1974 the foundation has been focused on its mission of providing “a better quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities or autism spectrum disorder.”
“This is why we are here,” said President Don Warnholtz, noting that the foundation is particular in that it helps provide funding for “life projects” in addition to maintaining buildings and equipment for its more than 1,400 users. “Normally foundations are just there to buy equipment for hospitals and all that, but we felt there was a need for direct activities,” the president said, explaining that life is more expensive and more stressful for the parents and caretakers of individuals with special needs.
It is in recognition of the more stressful reality of parents that the foundation named Nicholas Pépin and his wife Danielle Boisvert as the honourary cochairs of this year’s campaign.
“Having a parent really makes it real,” Warnholtz said, adding, “People don’t realize what they go through.”
Pépin said that he was stunned when the foundation asked him to take on the role only two months into using its services.
“When people select a campaign chairperson, it is usually someone important and recognizable in the community,” he said, “I am not a prominent businessman, politician, or university researcher. I am a dad.”
Pépin is a father of three and Guillaume, his ten-year-old son, has autism.
“It's not like Rain Man,” the campaign chair said, describing a daily routine that is very different much more difficult than what people might consider “normal” life. Challenged by the need for additional resources, Pépin said that he lived for a long time without ever being aware of the services available in the area and, ultimately, was very pleased to help spread the work about what the foundation does for local families in need.
“There is hope,” the campaign chair said. “There are people who are here for us.”
Warnholtz shared that although raising funds is of great importance to the work of the foundation, the outreach of the campaign also has great significance.
“We’re very well known in the English community, but when we took on the CNDE foundation, they weren’t as well developed,” the president said, referring to the fact that the Dixville Home Foundation took over the management of the French language Centre Notre-dame-del’enfant. “Now we’re trying to show people in the francophone community and in the autism community that we are here.”
In that vein, the president highlighted the launch of the foundation’s new website: https://fondationdixville.org/. Now up and Running in both English and French, the site will serve as a space to promote and share information about the work of the foundation and, hopefully, help more effectively connect with the people who need their services across the Eastern Townships.
All of it depends on the support that we get from the community, though,” Warnholtz said.
The annual Dixville Home Foundation wine and cheese and its associated silent and live fundraising auctions will be taking place on Friday, November 10th, 2017 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Ross dining hall at Bishop's College School in Lennoxville. A minimum donation of $175 gets one a ticket for two people. Those interested in participating can contact the foundation by calling 819-933-6033.