A bridge constructed in the 1930s has reached the end of its useful life according to Mobushar Pannu, Director of Transportation, Waste and Facilities for Northumberland County.
He and Denise Marshall appeared in front of Brighton Council on Monday evening to look at the Loomis Bridge replacement and how the costs would be split.
There is no wiggle room in Brighton’s budget for this year and when council was asked to pay for half of the $650,000 plus project, it made a few of the councillors around the horseshoe uneasy.
Councillor Steven Baker told Pannu it was hard to swallow their ask as the 2018 budget has already been set and there is no wiggle room.
Pannu says he understood their concern but they were simply looking to continue the discussions with staff as to how this project would be paid for.
The County is also hoping to offload the bridge to Brighton following the completion of construction.
Mayor Mark Walas says a decision was not expected to be made at tonight’s meeting as to how council would handle this.
Council referred the matter to staff for a report as to how they would finance this project.
Marshall detailed the County’s plans to replace the aging bridge with a single lane pre-engineered truss, split at a cost of 50/50 between the County and the Municipality of Brighton.
The bridge itself is owned by the County but the roadway in which it is located on, Pinewood School Road, is owned by the Municipality.
Marshall says the bridge is rated as in fair to poor condition.
An environmental assessment has been completed and a public information night was held.
A request for proposal has yet to be awarded but Marshall says they are expecting construction to begin in August and take 10 weeks to complete.
