CLARENVLLE, NL— The province says it does not own the Shoal Harbour causeway bridge and, therefore, won’t foot the entire bill for repairs.
That was the message delivered to the Town Council of Clarenville in a letter last Friday, May 4.
The letter was revealed and discussed at the regular town council meeting on Tuesday, May 8.
Clarenville CAO David Harris told council the letter from the Department of Transportation and Works states ownership of the bridge passed to the town in 1995 and, therefore, the department would not pay for the necessary repairs.
It was council’s position that the bridge was not transferred to the Town of Clarenville during the amalgamation with Shoal Harbour in 1994.
Mayor Frazer Russell told The Packet the town considered three options for finding a long-term solution.
The first was to have the Department of Transportation and Works cover the cost of the repairs.
The second was to apply for emergency funding. Council has requested a meeting with MHA Holloway, and the ministers responsible for municipal affairs and finance and departments for a discussion on how to fund permanent repairs.
Russell noted that even with emergency funding cost-shared between federal, provincial, and municipal government, the cost to Clarenville for the $3.6 million project would be roughly $1.2 million, which the town would have to borrow.
The third option, Russell says, isn’t even an option; that the town foot the entire $3.5 million price tag.
“If it ever came down to that third option, that is certainly not doable,” Russell told The Packet in an interview the day after the council meeting.
“We would never take all of our municipal multi-year funding and devote it to that bridge, and let the other infrastructure needs of our town suffer for four or five years. The third option isn’t really an option at all.”
Council is also busy pursuing a short-term solution.
The province is willing to loan the town a Bailey Bridge, Harris told the regular meeting of council. He says MHA Colin Holloway advised him he had been in discussions with the department, to arrange for that loan.
However, the Bailey Bridge the province has is only a 90-foot span— slightly less than is required.
“We would need to engage our engineers to see if it is doable to be installed over the existing structure that’s there now,” explained Harris.
“The existing structure is a little over 90 feet, so I’m not 100 per cent confident the bridge they have in stock will be suitable. But it is something we are going to check into with our engineers to see if it is something that can be done; if it is we will look into the cost of what it will take to install that bridge.”
Mayor Russell noted, however that while the province would loan them the Bailey Bridge, the cost of installation — to the tune of $100 to 150 thousand — would still fall to the town.
Russell told The Packet the more economical option would be to have engineers inspect the bridge once again, and see if it might be possible to open one lane or reduce the weight restriction.
At the May 8 meeting councilors voted unanimously on a motion to request Harbourside Engineering to do this further analysis.
“We’re grasping at straws. We’re trying to figure out how we can address traffic issues at the bridge. I just want to let everyone know that council is doing everything they possibly can to address this situation in the most expedient way possible,” said Harris.
In the meantime, council has requested a meeting with MHA Holloway, and the ministers responsible for municipal affairs, finance and environment departments for a discussion on how to fund permanent repairs.
The causeway bridge was closed to all vehicular traffic on March 29, diverting all traffic through Shoal Harbour Drive.
Mark.squibb@thepacket.ca
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