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Council Wants Clarity on Bridge Construction

Councillor Kevin Townsend says the province must provide details as 2nd skyway bridge is built

The City of St. Catharines is keeping pressure on the provincial government for all the details surrounding twinning of the 60-year old skyway bridge.

Councillor Kevin Townsend, who ward is under the bridge, says the province has failed on this before with past projects.

"If you look at what happened a few years ago with the Thorold tunnel, when they didn't really provide much of an update, or advanced notice of the closures of the tunnel, it caused a lot of traffic chaos, and a lot of angry people on their morning commute not knowing it was going to be closed," he says. 

The price tag, paid for by the province, will be around $300-million, and could change.  The councillor also says to expect construction of the twin bridge to take three to four years, but that too can change.

Townsend adds it's needed, despite some people, including fellow city councillors, telling him otherwise.  "The average life span of any type of infrastructure is about 100 years, an average of between 65 and 85.... you don't want to be scrambling at the last minute, similar to what they did in Montreal with the Champlain Bridge."

He says people and business owners are concerned about impending road closures.
 

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