Wellington North to look into pedestrian options for Rick Hopkins bridge closure

Wellington North council has decided to look into pedestrian options during the summer closure of the Rick Hopkins Bridge on Highway 6 in Mount Forest.

The bridge will be closed to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic for scheduled repairs, but after a letter from a concerned resident, the township will include a pedestrian bridge as a provisional item when it goes to tender for construction.

In the letter, Margaret Reid wrote she was concerned about the closure because it would add three kilometres to her walk, something she said she would not be capable of.

She added she was concerned about children who use the bridge to travel to and from the town pool, the lack of sidewalks along the detoured route and the lack of shoulders for pedestrians along the route.

“This route is going to be extremely busy with all the traffic to and from town being diverted to it,” stated Reid.

“It is barely wide enough to handle two passenger vehicles passing never mind the large commercial vehicles and recreational vehicles that will be using this route.

“How can you reasonably expect that it is safe for pedestrians to be walking along these roads given the above and the volume of traffic which is considerably increased during the summer months?”

In a report to council, consultants BM Ross and Associates outlined three options for council to investigate further.

A temporary pedestrian crossing would cost approximately $324,000 on top of the $1.5 million price tag for the bridge project. They also provided a cost estimate of $22,500 for a taxi service to impacted residents. Other options would be unlimited pedestrian path or limited pedestrian path that could cost in the range of $30,000 to $60,000.

Staff recommended the town seek tenders on the unlimited or unlimited pedestrian path options; however, staff are not recommending the township incur significant project costs for this crossing, states a report from public works director Matthew Aston.

“It is not uncommon for public infrastructure projects to cause planned, short-term, inconveniences to business and residents to achieve the greater goal of quality rehabilitated public infrastructure which will serve the community well into the future,” he stated.

Aston added, “township staff are also sympathetic that these construction-related inconveniences are very real and very personal (and) impacts local residents and businesses.”

Councillor Steve McCabe was also concerned with the cost.

“It seems like an awful lot for a temporary bridge … a third of a million dollars, it’s outrageous,” he said.

The pedestrian path will be included as part of the tender for the bridge construction, which is expected to come to council on April 4. Council will then decide how to proceed.

“It certainly gives us a number of options to look at,” said Mayor Andy Lennox.

 

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