The Transportation and Infrastructure Department of New Brunswick held a public information session last night to discuss the future of the Hammond River covered bridge.
Standing room only in #Hampton for the public info session regarding the future of the Hammond River covered bridge pic.twitter.com/7bvPt4xusV
— CHSJ News (@chsjnews) November 28, 2016
The majority of residents who attended the meeting were in favour of keeping the bridge and repairing it, which would take roughly 8 months.
Replacing the bridge entirely with a steel structure would take approximately 3 months.
Cedric Boone lives in Grand Bay and isn’t impacted by the bridge being out of service, but his grandfather built it and says we should keep.
Boone says every time he drives though on his way to Sussex he looks at the bridge with a lot of fondness.
He says it’s important that the province does whatever it can to preserve their covered bridges.
Those who attended the meeting filled out a questionnaire and were asked whether the bridge should be repaired or replaced.
Bonnie Kellar lives down the road from the bridge and seemed to be one of the few supporters for a new structure to be put in place.
She says the bridge being out of service takes a toll on buses and the safety of people in the surrounding area.
Kellar says “the horse and buggy days are over, let’s get over it”.
The two options are to either repair the bridge, or replace it completely at a similar cost of $1 million dollars.
Majority of residents seem to want the covered bridge to stay put. Here’s a list of the pros and cons: pic.twitter.com/tewxZ77Vrv
— CHSJ News (@chsjnews) November 28, 2016
The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure say the 104 year old covered bridge will still remain an issue in the future if the repairs are done.
The heritage surrounding covered bridges in New Brunswick was also a common issue addressed during the public information session.
Those who attended the meeting filled out a questionnaire and were asked whether the bridge should be repaired or replaced.
You can still have your opinion heard until December 5th by calling, emailing or writing to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.
