The project to replace the 110-year-old Manitoulin Island swing bridge that began in 2017 has taken another step forward.
The Ontario government announced this week it has completed the planning, preliminary design and environmental assessment for the replacement of the bridge on Highway 6 that connects Little Current and the island to the mainland.
The project will now proceed with property acquisition, right-of-way designation, and detail design, the province said in a news release.
“The Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands is very pleased that the Ontario government is focused on moving this project forward,” said Mayor Alan MacNevin. “While the current bridge represents our connection to our past, the new bridge will represent our connection to the future by enhancing traffic flow and supporting growth and development on the Island.”
In 2021, the MTO revealed its favoured option is a through truss swing bridge – the same type of bridge that’s currently in place.
The existing, single-lane swing bridge runs along Highway 6 and is the only year-round link between the mainland and the island situated in the upper end of Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay.
Though revered for its aesthetics and its heritage, as the bridge has aged, its maintenance requirements have become frequent and costly, and the MTO identified in 2017 that it would eventually need replacing.
Engineering consulting firm Stantec completed the $2.5-million study into the planning, preliminary design and environmental assessment (EA) process of the bridge, and the MTO has been gathering and incorporating public input through the process.
According to the MTO’s proposed plan, the new bridge will run along a newly identified corridor, located west of the existing bridge, and will be built with two lanes and a sidewalk along the west side.
New connections from the bridge to Highway 6 will have to be built, as will new traffic-queueing areas for when the bridge is closed to vehicles. The bridge swings open every hour for roughly 15 minutes to allow marine traffic to pass through the North Channel underneath.
Once the new bridge is operational, the old bridge would be removed.
However, the MTO is recommending that the new design be “sympathetic to the existing bridge, and the feasibility of using new design or salvaged materials to commemorate, interpret or pay homage to the existing bridge are to be explored.”
The ministry chose the through truss swing bridge design after whittling down a list of 67 replacement options, which, in the early stages, included a ferry, a tunnel, and a fixed span.
-with files from NorthernOntarioBusiness.com