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Town assessing Finlayson Island bridge

May 9, 2018 | 5:00 PM

The Town of Battleford has identified the south-side of the Finlayson Island bridge that accommodates vehicle traffic as a priority for upgrades. 

Mayor Ames Leslie discussed plans for an engineering study of the aging structure during the State of the City and Town Address on Tuesday. 

Leslie said the town received a presentation from its engineer at council’s last meeting saying an in-depth study needs to be done to assess its state, and whether or not it can handle the eight-tonne approved maximum weight restriction rating in place.

Leslie said it’s been identified that the bridge is deteriorating faster than the town had anticipated.

The mayor confirmed the south-side bridge remains open to the public.

“The bridge is still open and safe for both foot and vehicular traffic,” he said. “The town is going to engage into a more in-depth study to realize how much longer it’s going to be able to remain that way, or if there are steps needed to be taken in the short term or long term to keep it that way. That’s what the study is going to find out.”    

Leslie said town administration will focus on making improvements to the section of the old bridge that is open to vehicle traffic.

“Council will have more discussions to engage the engineering firm to do this in-depth investigation into the status of the bridge and hopefully have that done in the next month,” he said.  

The town maintains both the south-side and north-side spans of the bridge to the island.

The north-side bridge continues to be maintained as as walking-only bridge, as this side has been closed to vehicle traffic for a number of years.  

 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

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