Tantramar region residents continue to call for a fix for the Wheaton Covered Bridge, which was closed to traffic in July, cutting off a much-used crossing of the Tantramar River on the High Marsh Road.
In the past few weeks, over 1000 people signed a petition calling for the preservation of more-than-100-year-old covered bridge, one of only about 56 historic covered bridges left in the province.
Jolicure resident Elita Rahn started the petition on change.org, and is now working with Tantramar MLA Megan on a paper petition that Mitton can present in the provincial legislature.
Rahn says she has never created a petition before, but was moved to help ensure “we don’t lose one more New Brunswick icon.”
Rahn says she used to bike and drive across the bridge regularly. “It’s just a beautiful way to get to Sackville from Jolicure,” says Rahn. Like many New Brunswickers, she grew up in a place with a covered bridge, and says “all those memories and connections to our past… I really feel like that’s vital.”
Mitton says that while the government was in ‘caretaker mode’ during the election, she’s now back to advocating for work on the bridge. The MLA says she sent a letter this week to Chuck Chiasson, the recently appointed minister for the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI), “to bring him up to speed, and urge him to move with speed on this.”
“This has been months and months of this really important road and bridge basically being unusable,” says Mitton.
Weldon Estabrooks is one of the people who would like to be able to cross the Tantramar River at the Wheaton Bridge. Estabrooks runs a dairy and beef farm with about 1200 head of cattle, and farms about 300 acres of land on the other side of the river. Since July, Estabrooks has been taking detours that add about 40 minutes to each trip he makes to his fields, adding time and expense to his operation.
Estabrooks wants to see a new bridge across the river at High Marsh Road, one that can handle the size and weight of vehicles that farmers typically use to transport cattle, hay, fertilizer and lime to fields on the other side of the river.
“I would say there’s 3000 or 4000 acres that are serviced by this bridge,” says Estabrooks, “and probably four or five other farms right in our immediate area.” There’s also a community pasture that’s been affected, he says.
Famers transport their cattle to and from pasture in the spring and fall, says Estabrooks, “and then we go out to check the herd a couple times a week. And every time we go there, it takes 40 minutes more for us to make the round trip.”
Estabrooks says he also values the heritage in the old covered bridge. “Our ancestors went through it,” he says, “but I guess the biggest thing is, we can’t stop progress. We need to keep moving forward, be more efficient.”
He says there’s room for both. “We own property on three corners of that bridge, and we’d be more than willing to sell a piece, or do whatever, to put a new bridge in,” he says. “Or do whatever DTI thought was right.”
Fred Anderson lives on his home farm within eyesight of the Wheaton Covered Bridge. He is past chair of the Chignecto Soil and Crop Association, which sent a letter to the previous minister of DTI in September asking for action on the crossing. He says the association will be working on a new letter to ministers of both DTI and the department of agriculture, to let them know “we need to have a modern day bridge put in there that will allow us to haul loads and use modern day equipment.”
“Back in the 70s, that bridge probably was rated at somewhere around 30 to 40 tons,” recalls Anderson. “And today it has been reduced down to a five ton bridge.”
“We used to be able to haul a higher load through there, but due to weight restrictions, they had to put a bar in there so that we can’t go as high,” says Anderson. “They’ve narrowed the width of it, and it’s not really adequate for today’s equipment.”
Anderson says that he would personally like to see the old covered bridge set aside and preserved, and then a new crossing of the river built to modern standards.
And that’s not just for the benefit of the members of the Soil and Crop Association, but also for regular travel, emergency access, tourism, and to serve as an alternative route to the Trans Canada Highway across the Tantramar Marsh.
“If you had some major catastrophe out on the highway,” says Anderson, “you may really need this road for an important secondary way out of here.”
For the last number of years, says Anderson, “they can’t really properly grade the road, plow the snow, or anything, because the bridge is not suitable now for for that type of heavy equipment, either.”
“Agriculture is very important to me and to the area,” says Anderson, “but it’s also, I think, very important as an emergency route for the whole community.”
CHMA reached out to DTI for an update on the evaluation and planning for the Wheaton Bridge. Spokesperson Jacob MacDonald replied by email with a nearly word for word copy of the statement shared in early September. MacDonald repeats that:
“Structural damage identified on the Wheaton Covered Bridge requires a well-planned solution for the structure.
The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI) understands the impact of this closure in the area and appreciates the public’s patience while staff identify the best option for the bridge going forward.”
Hear this story as reported on Tantramar Report:
