The COVID-19 pandemic has caused another delay in the long-awaited plan to replace the pedestrian bridge over the Moira River in downtown Belleville.
The old Catharine Street Bridge was shut down a few years ago due to rapid deterioration.
Earlier this year the city was given the go-ahead by Fisheries and Oceans to get into the water and begin work on the $3.7 million new bridge.
The plan was to begin work this month after spawning season.
Senior Project Manager, Barry Simpson, tells Quinte News COVID-19 held up the hiring of a consultant this spring causing a delay in tendering for the bridge work.
Simpson, who says he has been working on this project off and on since 2011, says this means the two-year project won’t begin until next summer, after spawning season. It will be completed in 2022.
The new bridge will be much wider and accommodate higher volumes of pedestrian and cyclist traffic, with better lighting.
There had been proposals as many as 10 years ago to rehabilitate the bridge but city council at the time considered it was too expensive and decided to tear it down and build a new one.
