Indefinite closure of Wheaton Covered Bridge brings up fond memories and current concerns
Hear this story on Tantramar Report:
Phyllis Wheaton can remember driving through the Wheaton Covered Bridge with her parents, always honking the horn. It’s a longstanding tradition in New Brunswick’s covered bridges. “Everybody honks the horn going through the bridge, because you can’t see if there’s somebody on the other side,” says Wheaton.
The Wheaton Covered Bridge on High Marsh Road is one of about 56 historic covered bridges left in the province. According to the Tantramar Heritage Trust, the current bridge was built more than a hundred years ago, around 1916. But now its future is in question.
On July 11, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI) closed the Wheaton bridge to all traffic, citing public safety concerns. The department says that during a recent annual inspection, DTI workers discovered “significant structural issues” in the bridge, which caused the immediate closure. DTI says that its bridge staff are still conducting further evaluation of the bridge and there is currently no timeline for its reopening.
Phyllis Wheaton and her sister Mary Fawcett not only have nostalgia for the bridge, but they rely on it. Wheaton is one of many farmers who uses the bridge to bring cattle to and from the Tantramar Community Pasture, and Fawcett cuts hay every year on her plot of marsh near the bridge.… Continue
‘Infusion of investment’ needed for DTI to catch up on crumbling infrastructure, says Mitton
Dorchester business owners are worried about the extended closure of route 106 announced by the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI) this week.
DTI blocked off Route 106 where it crosses over Two Mile Brook just over one month ago, on April 1st, due to a damaged culvert with a collapsing road around it, caused by runoff from heavy rain. Since then, drivers have been taking an alternate route via Woodlawn Road and King Street.
Debbie Shea owns and operates the Village Square takeout in the heart of Dorchester. “I think it’s crazy,” says Shea, about the three month extension for the estimate fix time, posted by DTI on 511.gnb.ca. “It should be fixed by now.”
Shea says she’s noticed a difference in her business, especially on weekends. She says people don’t want to drive the detour route because it takes longer, and “the road is so bad… Woodlawn is really bad and King Street is bad.”
“It’s a big concern for this little village, for people to come in and enjoy it,” says Shea.
Kara Becker is co-owner of the Peep and Keep Ecotique in Dorchester. She says she’s shocked that “something like a main road can be out for so long.”
“I just cannot believe that it’s going to take until September to fix it,” says Becker, whose shop opened last year, and relies on tourists passing through. “What’s the delay?… Continue