Chief Georjann Morriseau wants 'strong' bridge negotiations

CN Rail says the future of the James Street swing bridge in Thunder Bay remains undecided.

That's despite a study by the railway that Mayor Keith Hobbs and Fort William First Nation Chief Georjann Morriseau say recommends continuing to ban vehicles.

A spokesperson for CN told CBC News there are no final decisions yet.

Morriseau said her community will not give up on getting the bridge fixed.

We will be pursuingCN, and the city," she said. "We'll have to just keep pushing forward because we want that bridge opened. I definitely see that there are solutions that could be put in place.

To that end, Morriseau and Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs will both attend a meeting on Friday to talk about the bridge's future, adding shebelieves bridge traffic can resume if all the stakeholders engage in what she calls "strong" negotiations.

We need to sit down and really hash this out, she said. There's a 1906 agreement that's in place and really needs to be brought to the table and needs to be discussed in detail ... and with everybody's role in that. The overall goal is reopening the bridge."

It boils down to the safety of the bridge, its capacity, and what it can hold, Morriseau said.

Wont compromise on safety

The report contains information that explains why trains can run over the bridge but not vehicles at this time, she added.

"The rail portion is on a more solid foundation [and] the road portion is on a cantilever system and a lot of that is timber."

Morriseau said that seems to be why the bridge is deemed unsafe as a result of the fire.

"The fact that they want to maintain closure, I guess I wasn't too surprised. But at the same time, there are lots of questions that pool into your head such as, what was happening with the bridge prior to the fire? What was the level of monitoring? And so forth. You can't really ignore that aspect either, she said.

"There were safety issues prior to [the fire] ... and I want those identified. Anyone walking over [or] driving over that bridge for years [felt it to be] a little bit rocky That has to be something that comes up in our discussions and it will. We will not do anything to compromise the safety of pedestrians and vehicle traffic.

Morriseau said it's not clear who would be responsible for the cost of repairs to allow the bridge over the Kam River to reopen for vehicles, despite a more-than-century-old agreement between CN Rail's predecessor and the former city of Fort William.

When you start talking about the financial piece, that's where I think things get a little bit unclear. Having said that, I do expect that that will be a topic of discussion, she said.