Fredericton walking bridge to close for 4 months in the fall

Fredericton's Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge will be closed for four months for repairs starting in September. The renowned landmark is scheduled for $3.9 million worth of work this fall.

Work is scheduled to start after the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in late September and last until early January.

Sean Lee, Fredericton'sassistant director of engineering and operations, gave an update on the project to city council at its council-in-committee meeting on Monday night.

"We've done a lot of work on this project to try and make it as time sensitive as possible. The systems we have in place are designed to minimize the impact, make sure it's a long-term fix," said Lee.

"Once we're doing the work here, we shouldn't have to go back and do a major rehab like this for many, many decades."

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The $3.9-million bill will be split equally between the federal government, the province and the city. The original railway ties are starting to deteriorate, so the entire deck and ties will need to be stripped away.

The city will install modular pieces of concretetied with steel railings and a wood deck on top of it. Lee said the bridge will look similar to how it looks now but with metal railings that are spaced out so people can see through out onto the St. John River.

Where to walk

The four-month closure of the bridge will shut down a major part of the city's walking trail, which will mean anybody who wants to walk to the other side of the river during that time will need to use the sidewalk on theWestmorlandStreet Bridge.

Coun. Kevin Darrahsaid he isn't worried about thatone sidewalkon that bridge becoming clogged up over the fall months.

He recommendedpeople take the bus across the Westmorland Street Bridge.

"Transit has a stop on both sides of the bridge and an accessibility bus will be running that route, so they'll be able to pick up and drop off on both sides of the bridge," said Darrah.

Lee said that will cost the same as the regular transit system.

"We tried to schedule the work so it's outside of your typical highest use period," said Lee.