The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure has still not decided how to fix the problem of the closed Wheaton Covered Bridge. The 109-year-old wooden bridge has been closed since July 2024, when officials with DTI deemed it unsafe.
At the end of April, a DTI spokesperson told CHMA by email that DTI Minister Chuck Chiasson had been talking to local stakeholders to discuss a number of available options, one of which was, “the use of a modular bridge next to the existing covered bridge, until a decision is made on its future.”
On Tuesday this week, the spokesperson confirmed that “no decision on the bridge has been made at this time.”
A modular bridge next to the current covered bridge is the option favoured by Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton, who told CHMA she would like to see one “in place as soon as possible, in 2025.”
Mitton says that, “would give everyone, from local residents to farmers to first responders, access to a safe crossing.”
Mitton hosted a meeting in April with various stakeholders concerned with the bridge, including farmers, heritage advocates, and representatives from the municipality. Attendees say Mitton presented five to six options from DTI.
Fred Anderson is a board member with the Chignecto Soil and Crop Association, and was one of a group of farmers at the meeting. Anderson says there was a consensus among farmers for a solution that involves moving the existing covered bridge.
“We would like to see the original bridge picked up and set aside,” says Anderson, “preserved for whatever heritage it can be used for at a later date.” And that would allow DTI to “get a double-wide bridge in across the river there as quick as possible.” Anderson says the new bridge should be up to modern engineering standards, and allow farmers to “haul loads of whatever it may be, whether it be hay, cattle, fertilizer or whatever.” He adds that it would also serve as “a secondary route out of the main part of Sackville in case of an emergency at some point in time.”
Anderson says the option of leaving the heritage bridge in place on the High Marsh Road was discussed at the April meeting, but he felt that option would add too much expense and time to getting the crossing reopened. “If we start having to rebuild the road there and do some new realignments… You’re adding considerable cost, beyond what’s reasonable, I think, to get this job done in an expedient timeline,” says Anderson.
Tantramar Heritage Trust president Logan Atkinson was also at the April stakeholder meeting, and agrees a “solution has to be found to satisfy the interests of the farming community in Sackville.” But as president of Heritage Trust, Atkinson says its his job to advocated for “the very, very best possible outcome for that old bridge.”
“Sometimes those two things—that is the farmers’ interests and the heritage interest—sometimes those two things don’t align perfectly,” says Atkinson. “And so we’ve got to find a way through that misalignment. I think that’s not easy to do, but we’re working on it.”
From a heritage perspective, Atkinson would like to see the bridge remain in place, and a modern bridge built nearby. He’s concerned that moving the large, 109-year old wooden structure could be difficult, and may damage it.
There’s also the question of where it would be moved, and “who would take custody of it, who would maintain it into the future?”
‘Heritage is on the back-burner’
Elita Rahn was also at the April stakeholder meeting. Rahn runs a small farm in Jolicure, and last fall started an online petition aimed at raising awareness about protecting the covered bridge, signed by just over 1100 people.
Rahn says that moving the bridge would be a fair compromise, but there is also the question of what happens to it after that.
“People’s priorities are on the rising cost of living right now,” says Rahn, “and our heritage is really, definitely on the back burner.” And the ongoing closure is “adding to the cost of doing business for an industry that really has thin margins to start with,” she says.
“What I took away from the meeting was that if people really care about covered bridges, just the general population, if people care about it, then in a private way, we have to do crowdfunding and come up with the means in order to protect them ourselves,” says Rahn. “That the municipalities and government are not going to do anything, they’re not going to help us in any way preserve our heritage.”
Holt says bridges part of identify, but in disrepair
At a weekly news conference on May 1, Premier Susan Holt responded to a question from Canadian Press reporter Hina Alam, about how the province is caring for its covered bridges:
“Covered bridges are a part of our both our identity and some of the uniqueness of New Brunswick,” said Holt, though she admitted “many of them are very old and in various states of repair and safety.”
In an emailed statement to CHMA this week, the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture says that 51 out of 56 of the province’s remaining covered bridges are owned and managed by the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, and just one, the Hartland Covered Bridge, has provincial heritage designation.
The department says, “the Wheaton Covered Bridge does not have a heritage designation and the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture has not been contacted with any proposals.”
Hoping for ‘something more concrete’ soon
Meanwhile Megan Mitton says the pressure is on for DTI to come up with a solution this year. In an emailed statement on Monday Mitton writes, “it’s extremely important that DTI move quickly, to get a plan in place, so that work can begin as soon as possible this year. I hope there’s something more concrete to announce soon.”
With a decision yet to be made, and opinions on the best solution forward not quite aligned, Logan Atkinson told CHMA he’s at least been impressed with the work of local politicians.
“Megan Mitton is doing a really good job advocating for the various interests that are at stake in the future of that old bridge up there,” says Atkinson. “I respect what she’s doing very much. And the town was well represented at the meeting with the mayor, the deputy mayor, and the CAO. They’re concerned about it as well.”
“So no matter what your interest is in that bridge,” says Atkinson, “I think that our elected representatives are doing a fine job.”
