Logo
Bruce County provides update on Walkerton Bridge Environmental Assessment Study
Bruce County is planning to move forward with plans to replace the Durham Street Bridge, which spans the Saugeen River on Bruce Road 4 in the community of Walkerton, Ontario. This bridge was constructed in 1937 and has served the community for over 85 years.
Environmental Assessment (EA) work for this bridge project commenced in 2021 and will be completed in 2023. Bridge construction is currently scheduled for 2025/2026, pending budget approval by Bruce County Council.
A Public Meeting was held on October 4, 2022, to present project details to members of the public. Following the meeting, input was received from residents and business owners with concerns related to the preferred detour alternative, which is to use local municipal roads to detour traffic during the bridge replacement. A second public meeting is tentatively planned for the summer/fall of 2023.
A Business Information Session was held on May 11, 2023, at the Walkerton Community Centre. Staff from Bruce County Transportation & Environmental Services, BM Ross, the Municipality of Brockton, and the Bruce County Economic Development Department were present and received feedback. There were many representatives from businesses, as well as residents, who attended the meeting.
Bruce County’s Project Team provided an update on the Schedule ‘C’ Class EA study of the bridge to the Municipality of Brockton at the Tuesday, June 6, 2023 Council Meeting. It was highlighted that an important part of the Environmental Assessment for this project is to consider alternatives and hear feedback from residents, businesses, stakeholders, and municipal partners, which will be shared with Bruce County Council.
Through the Schedule ‘C’ Class EA, the study is looking at 3 Bridge alternatives:
- Replacement in the same location
- Repair the Existing Bridge
- Do Nothing
The preferred alternative at this time, which still needs to be finalized, is Alternative 1) Replacement in the same location.
Recognizing that the roadway would need to be closed to proceed with Alternative 1, the study went further and looked at 4 detour alternatives:
- Detour using County Roads – North and south routes identified. Truck traffic to be encouraged to use detour.
- Local Detour - Using Brockton and County Roads with improvements and transit option for pedestrian users. Estimated Detour Cost: $1.9 million + Engineering.
- Temporary Vehicle Bridge - South of the existing bridge, connecting McNab Street and Orange Street. Estimated Detour Cost: $6.3 million + Engineering.
- Temporary Pedestrian Bridge - South of the Existing bridge, connecting McNab Street and Orange Street. Estimated Detour Cost: $2.6 million + Engineering.
The approved detour alternative will consider the information received through the EA study, which includes consultation with government agencies, indigenous communities, and interested persons, and includes concerns related to the proposed undertaking, analysis of potential environmental effects, and evaluation of the alternatives.
The public is encouraged to comment on the project’s alternatives during this Environmental Assessment period. To date, the project team has received numerous responses from members of the public. The team is collecting this information and will work to address comments before making a final recommendation for alternatives to County Council after the next public meeting, tentatively planned for the summer/fall of 2023. Comments can be submitted directly to the project team via email to Kelly Vader, Environmental Planner at kvader@bmross.net.
Additional Project Information can be found on the Bruce County Website at www.brucecounty.on.ca/WalkertonBridge