Committee member David Frayne says construction on the Morrison Line Pedestrian Bridge over the Ausable River is now expected to get underway early this fall.
The Ausable Bayfield board approved the committee's recommendation for the tender at this week's meeting and Frayne says, pending approval of a couple of grant applications, construction could start in September with the bridge completed later this fall. Frayne explains the bridge will be located on the west side of the spill way of the Morrison Dam and it will be two bridge spans and with a width of eight feet so the mobility vehicle can go on it and there'll be lots of room for people to walk together on it.
Frayne points out the purpose of the bridge is to eliminate the need to cross on the Morrison Line bridge which is fairly narrow for pedestrians and vehicular traffic. He adds summer's a busy time of year on the trail so they'll wait until the busy season is over and they know where they stand with their grant applications and then get started on the bridge. And the bridge has been named the Jones Bridge after Ted Jones who was a long-term employee of the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority and his wife made a contribution of fifty-thousand dollars towards the construction of the bridge.
“It's gonna be located on the west side of the spill way of the Morrison Dam and it's gonna be two bridge spans and it's gonna a width of eight feet so the mobility vehicle can go on it, lots of room for people to walk together on it.”
“We hope to start construction this fall. Summer season's a very busy period on the trail and there's no flooding obviously this time of year, or at least there shouldn't be, but we've got some requests in for some grants and we can't really start construction until they give us the results of their findings.”