Residents defy order to cease using Woodsville bridge

WESTERN BUREAU:

RESIDENTS OF Woodsville in Hanover continue to defy orders by the authorities that the badly compromised bridge be closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic, claiming that the alternative routes are not feasible.

The bridge, which was damaged during recent rains, was ordered closed on April 21 and caution tape placed across both ends to prevent its continued use. However, the tape has been removed by residents, who contend that it still remains the most suitable route to get to Lucea, the parish capital, or Savanna-la-Mar in Westmoreland for school, work, or business.

There had been some amount of haggling between the National Works Agency (NWA) and the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) as to which of the two entities was responsible for repairing or replacing the damaged bridge.

BRIDGE BLOCKED

Lucea Mayor Sheridan Samuels and Hopewell Councillor Devon Brown, in whose division the Woodsville area falls, also ordered that the bridge be closed after visiting the area. A load of marl was also ordered to be used to block both ends of the bridge to prevent further access. However, when the truck arrived with the marl, it was commandeered by the residents, who used the marl to instead patch potholes in the vicinity of the bridge.

“If we have to go up there with the police, [we will], but the bridge has to be blocked with marl,” a peeved Brown told The Gleaner earlier this week, adding that more marl would be ordered to prevent use of the bridge.

When contacted yesterday, Brown told The Gleaner that he ensured marl was placed at both ends of the structure, as well as two signs indicating that the bridge was closed.

“Funny enough, by the time we left there on Wednesday, I got a call that residents are clearing the marl from the road,”Brown stated.

“They are complaining that they have no other choice because the [alternative] route is in disrepair,” he said.

Checks by The Gleaner revealed that, while the marl has not been totally removed from the access points to the bridge, it has been levelled to accommodate pedestrian and motorcycle traffic.

According to Brown, the HMC and the NWA have been holding discussions towards doing some immediate work on the proposed alternative routes in and out of Woodsville.