Construction to replace the Wolseley Bay Bridge will begin this Friday, Nov. 12 with the plan for the bridge to be usable again by mid-January.
The contractor R.M. Belanger posted a notice that work was commencing last Friday, and the municipality has also been in touch with the few permanent residents that will be impacted by the work. Based on public consultation that was held a while back, the municipality’s manager of public works Shawn Remillard says they thought one or two properties would be affected, but the number turned out to be double.
“Once I received the schedule last week, we phoned all the affected property owners,” says Remillard. “We’ve since found out there are actually four permanent residents, of which one is gone according to the neighbour, so we’re dealing with two, plus the one that’s kind of a rental property.”
The contractor will provide those residents with walking access to the other side of the river, but no vehicles can travel to the other side until the new year. In case of emergency, a firetruck has been parked on the Nature’s Trail Rd. side. R.M. Belanger will also assist first responders if there’s a need for emergency ambulance response.
“When you remove a bridge that is the only access, unfortunately there will be hardship,” says Remillard. “Hence, why I’m thinking it’s been dragging on so for so many years… But here we are in 2021 and the project is a go. Yes, there will be hardships for those four and a few deer hunters that used to go to their cottage and they were a little bit upset, but from my understanding, the rifle season of deer closes on Sunday, so it shouldn’t be too, too bad.”
