CENTRAL MANITOULIN – Tenders for the Union Road Bridge replacement were opened and the Belanger Construction bid of $1,175,000 was recommended for acceptance to council by the Central Manitoulin roads committee.
The motion to accept the bid was moved by Councillor Derek Stephens and seconded by Councillor Rose Diebolt.
“We seem to have done more than our share of bridges,” quipped Mayor Richard Stephens.
“We have three more to go,” rejoined Councillor Stephens.
The municipal share of the project is 10 percent with the balance being picked up by a grant from the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.
As was previously reported in The Expositor, the Union Road Bridge actually serves more of the residents of Burpee and Mills than the ratepayers of Central Manitoulin. The bus route previously established by Ontario Northland during its brief tenure serving Manitoulin Island that was slated to run across the bridge had to be cancelled due to the 10-ton weight restriction that had been placed on the bridge. The bus weighed in at 15 tons.
The municipality had previously applied for funding for the project, but was turned down.
