Preliminary work underway on local bridge

Preliminary work is now underway on the bridge over the Bayfield River at the north end of town. Looby Construction of Stratford is doing the work.

The construction will actually get underway next spring and will involve constructing a new, temporary bridge, then tearing down the old one and building a new one and then tearing down the temporary work. The cost is covered by the Province.

Bayfield ward councilor, Bill Whetstone recently said the sidewalks on the bridge are going to be cantilever sidewalks that are built on cement fingers that go out over the river. Whetstone says they’ve also worked out a cost-sharing agreement with the MTO to widen the sidewalks running north and south of the bride to a normal sidewalk width to make it safer for pedestrians.

Whetstone says the new sidewalks will also run from Short Hill Road, at the south end of the bridge, to the bridge and at the north end from the bridge to the Docks Restaurant. The municipality’s share of that cost is fifty-thousand dollars, which he points out, is well below what it would cost for the municipality to do it on their own.

Construction on the bridge is scheduled to start next year with the project expected to take a couple of years.