MANITOULIN—In the wake of the Northeast Town’s proclamation that it supported a bascule bridge as a replacement to the current swing bridge structure, a few other Island communities have begun to share their preferences with the study team.
At its first meeting in August, Northeast Town council voted to inform the project team that its preferred bridge style would be a bascule bridge (one which has two halves which meet in the middle when closed and swing up toward the shore when opening), and that its preferred location would be immediately west of the current structure.
Councillor Linda Farquhar moved a motion at the October 10 meeting of Central Manitoulin council, which was seconded by Councillor Dale Scott, that council support a lift bridge option for the replacement structure.
The council of Gordon/Barrie Island has discussed the topic but has yet to issue any formal resolutions on the matter as of press time. The Town of Gore Bay similarly has not made any official declarations yet.
Billings Mayor Ian Anderson filled out a comment form for the study and presented it to council to gather their feedback.
“In our mind, and we were all in agreement here, the folks in Little Current had the potential for the most impact, particularly if the bridge option diverted traffic. We could see the downside of that, along with the other obvious downside of the displacement of a bunch of permanent homes with two of the options,” he said.
Council ultimately said it would support a new movable bridge next to the current structure in either a lift bridge or a bascule bridge.
Other communities on the Island have yet to issue any position statement on the bridge replacement, including Burpee and Mills, Tehkummah, Assiginack and Sheguiandah First Nation. The Expositor did not receive responses from the other Island First Nations by press time Monday.
