Sign up for the paNOW newsletter

Lane closure renews funding, second bridge concerns

Aug 31, 2011 | 6:57 AM

With southbound lanes on the Diefenbaker Bridge closed, city officials and councillors are hoping that the province can step in with financial support.

On Tuesday, the city closed the lanes after a crack in a support girder was found. During a press conference where the closure was explained Mayor Jim Scarrow said it was time to more seriously press the province for second bridge options.

“The very first question is: does this make it more mandatory for a second bridge?” Scarrow asked at the conference. “It’s certainly prudent that we would be considering the option.”

Scarrow said there had been talks for some time and hopefully the bridge fatigue failure would bring that issue to the forefront.

“If there was a second bridge it would be a long time to get it in place, but certainly we’re encouraged that there is movement afoot to study the second bridge situation and bring it into a conclusion.”

City manager Robert Cotterill said that prior to the girder failure the city had been close to coming to agreements on both funding the current bridge and determining possible locations for the second bridge.

“Council has said for a long time that we need a second bridge and I think this will put it to the forefront,” he said.

He said there was a meeting scheduled for Sept. 1 with deputy minister of highways Rob Penny regarding the issue.

“(It’s) to look at a study to locate the second bridge,” he said about the meeting.

“So it was on our radar with the province and we were hoping to get that underway quickly.”

As for funding he said talks had been underway for some time and were close to coming to fruition and going to council for approval.

“The province was working closely with us to taking a more major role in the funding for the bridge and we expected to announce that in September,” he said.

However, he said that because it had not been presented to or discussed by council, he could not release details.

Meanwhile, the city has scheduled inspections of the bridge for today. For more details on the results of the inspection, check back with paNOW.com

See related: Bridge lanes closed after girder crack found

adesouza@panow.com