Minister’s plan for Nipigon bridge repair, testing: hurry up and wait…

KITCHENER – Ontario PC Transportation Critic Michael Harris says northern motorists, truckers and Ontario residents will be waiting longer for two-lane traffic and answers following the failure of the vital Nipigon River Bridge connecting Ontario to the West.

“Today’s update by the Minister reveals we are still more than a month away from two-lane traffic on this essential trade conduit and leaves lingering questions as to lack of contingency plans and responsibility,” Harris said. “The trucking industry depends on this route to move $100 million worth of goods across Canada daily – where was the backup plan to prevent impacts to this critical economic backbone?”

The January 10th failure of the crucial northern Ontario bridge that connects Eastern and Western Canada, followed a $106 million rebuild that began in 2013, and came just 42 days after westbound lanes were opened to traffic in late November. Today, Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca indicated that while two independent testing labs will finish a visual inspection of the bridge bolts this week, it’s not clear how long it will take for full testing, including chemical analysis to assess what caused the failure.

“We still have no answers now more than a week following the bridge failure and the best the Minister can offer us is to hurry up and wait, with little clarity as to when those answers will be forthcoming,” Harris noted. “We look forward to the test results and continue to seek explanations as to how this Minister was left so unprepared on such a vital piece of infrastructure that our province relies on for transport of goods between East and West.”

Harris concluded that many Ontarians are still left wondering why $106 million wasn’t enough to develop the, “permanent solution”, that the Minister’s update indicates staff will soon be working on.