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More towns endorse second bridge campaign

Apr 23, 2012 | 6:40 AM

The campaign to build a second bridge in Prince Albert continues to pick up steam with more municipalities jumping on board the letter writing campaign.

Officials in both Melfort and Nipawin have confirmed that they will be supporting the “Build a Second Bridge” campaign and have officially sent letters of support as part of Prince Albert’s letter writing campaign.

“In seeing what your community went through with the structural issues that affect (the bridge) and that being the only access, I think it’s of critical importance,” said Nipawin Mayor Lawrence Rospad.
“In our community, we have a very close proximity and close relations with Prince Albert. We certainly see it as a real benefit and I think it’s very important.

Doug Terry, mayor for Melfort says they passed the resolution at their council meeting on Monday night with their letter stating in part that “the city of Melfort endorses the efforts of the build a second bridge campaign.”

Terry calls the bridge through Prince Albert a gateway to northern Saskatchewan and a second bridge would ensure access to the transportation link.

“When that bridge was restricted, (Melfort) was negatively impacted,” explained Terry.

“We had increased trucking through our district and we also received a significant amount of waste from Prince Albert that was hauled to our landfill because they couldn’t get across the bridge.”

That’s why Terry says it’s in their favor for a second bridge to be constructed.

Prince Albert Mayor Jim Scarrow was delighted with the news that more towns were choosing to stand beside them saying, “I think those other large communities also felt the impact of the bridge failure and the resulting economic and general disruption that occurred in many households.”

The issue will also be brought up at the next council meeting in Tisdale tonight, with a source confirming that they will likely endorse it at that time.

rhaagen@panow.com