Construction crews work on Mill Creek Bridge in Port Elgin on September 6, 2018. (Photo by Jordan MacKinnon)Construction crews work on Mill Creek Bridge in Port Elgin on September 6, 2018. (Photo by Jordan MacKinnon)
Midwestern

Port Elgin's Mill Creek Bridge scheduled to open Monday

The major east-west route into Port Elgin is set to re-open after months of bridge work.

Bruce County's Director of Transportation and Environmental Services Miguel Pelletier says the Mill Creek Bridge on Bruce Road 17 is tentatively scheduled to re-open to traffic this Monday.

The bridge has been closed since February for rehabilitation and had been slated to open in early summer, but was plagued by several delays.

Pelletier said it was largely issues out of their control that caused the bridge opening to be pushed back.

"There was a few incidents that caused delays, there was a vehicle accident that hit a water pipe, there was also a [natural] gas line project that had to happen concurrently, so they had to stop some of the bridge work so they could do the gas-line work," said Pelletier.

Pelletier said they will learn from the experience.

"We tried to speed up the schedule, so when you do that, sometimes you take a chance and things don't work out the way you want," said Pelletier. "It has not been frustrating, there's lessons to be learned from it, certainly."

Pelletier added he's not sure if they will be able to open the bridge for the early-morning commute Monday, but hopes to have the bridge open at some point during the day.

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