INVERNESS: Local MLA Allan MacMaster is happy to hear steps are being taken to make travel for those in Valley Mills much less time consuming.
“In May of last year, a vehicle struck the Crowdis Bridge,” the Inverness County member said. “The bridge is still there, but it’s not safe for travel. It’s been closed ever since, and there didn’t seem to be any action taken to fix the bridge.”
MacMaster’s office put out a release on the matter early last month, and he also tabled a petition for the bridge to be repaired in early November. The petition was signed by 1,076 people, and it maintains that the detour adds 25 to 45 minutes to the drive people in the area are facing.
The detour around the bridge means drivers have to travel a 16-kilometer dirt road.
“A week after we put out a release on it, there was some action taken,” MacMaster said. “Transportation had been doing a review and hired a structural engineer to come up with a design for the bridge. There was some question as to whether or not the bridge could be fixed, and if there’d have to be another structure put in there.
“The report has come back that the bridge can be fixed.”
MacMaster was told a tender for the project will be released soon. He’s also been assured that the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal will encourage whoever wins the tender to get the work done as soon as possible.
“We hope that this is finally some action that will mean a difference for these people,” he said.
“It’s one thing to do it once in a drive, but doing it every day was getting people frustrated.”
MacMaster said the news comes as a relief for local residents. One of the people affected by the bridge closure, Roberta MacLennan, noted that people in the area were not pleased with the seven-month wait.
“People have been patient but their frustration with the slow response of the government is understandable,” she added.