Short notice of bridge closure upsets some residents in Inverness County

Some people living in Nova Scotia's Inverness County are nervous and upset at the temporary loss of a bridge that connects their rural Cape Breton communities together. 

The province closed a small bridge on Route 252 in Brook Village, near Mabou, this week after only a few days' notice in order to do needed repairs it said were more extensive than first thought. It's expected to be shut down for at least six weeks.

"We all found out by surprise," said Kate Campbell, who works during the tourism season as chef at the Red Shoe Pub in Mabou.

Campbell typically spends more than an hour each day travelling between her home in Valley Mills and the Mabou mainstay.

She said the commute is now even longer with the closure of the bridge. She said it adds about another hour of travel time on top of a 12-hour workday spent getting ready for an influx of tourists.

"This is our absolute busiest time," Campbell said. "July and August are the busiest months every year. I'm finding it to be quite troubling. I already put in long hours and we're trying to have a great tourist season here with all the COVID things kind of winding down."

A spokesperson with the provincial Department of Transportation said it had initially planned to reduce the bridge to one lane to perform work on it, but an inspection found it needed more repairs than what was expected and it had to be closed.

The bridge is expected to be shut down for six to eight weeks, while the work is completed. 

Longer commute

Campbell said she's worried the detour may prove to be too much of an inconvenience for employees who travel to Mabou from Whycocomagh, a community nearly 30 kilometres away. 

"Their concern is, well, you know, is it worth it?" she said. "I have several staff members that are in Whycocomagh that also commute and this added 35 minutes to one of their commutes this morning."

She is also worried about a detour that takes drivers along a dirt road full of twists, turns and potholes. The area also has limited cellphone coverage.
 
Campbell wonders why the project cannot be completed any faster.

"I am not a civil engineer. I don't know the logistics, but were these things looked into ahead of time?"

Campbell is most frustrated by the fact that she only found out about the closure a few days before the bridge was shut down. 

Andrew Thompson said he was upset with the handling of the closure as well. He lives on East Skye Glen Road and travels across the bridge three or four times a week. 

Thompson said the closure will impact family gatherings and work that is carried out on his family farm. He and Campbell both question why a temporary bridge was not put in its place. 

"I can't overestimate the inconvenience," Thompson said. 

"Emergency services use that road. Ambulance use the road. The school buses will be using that road. There's multiple farmers on the road; a lot of transfer trucks…. It's quite phenomenal that they think this will not affect a lot of people in all the surrounding communities."

The Department of Transportation said crews will be replacing the bridge's deck, girders and rail. There will also be some major concrete work.  

A spokesperson didn't respond to a specific question as to whether or not a temporary bridge would be put in place. Instead, the department noted that a detour is in place with signage.

Petition launched 

Thompson said he's skeptical the work will be completed before the end of summer. He's also concerned about the state of the detour offered through Lake Ainslie Chapel Road, Meagher Road, Hays River Road and West Lake Ainslie Road.

"I was just on that today and it will not hold up to the added volume of traffic or any sort of transfer trucks," he said. "It will just not hold up."

A petition has been started by a resident of Inverness County who hopes the province will provide some type of crossing in place of the bridge on Route 252 in Brook Village.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the petition had gathered more than 500 signatures.