{"id":53035,"date":"2024-11-15T14:01:54","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T18:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/?p=53035"},"modified":"2024-11-15T14:08:16","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T18:08:16","slug":"dti-still-quiet-on-wheaton-bridge-options-as-petition-calls-for-preservation-of-covered-bridge-and-farmers-call-for-modern-crossing-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/dti-still-quiet-on-wheaton-bridge-options-as-petition-calls-for-preservation-of-covered-bridge-and-farmers-call-for-modern-crossing-2\/","title":{"rendered":"DTI still quiet as petition calls for preservation of Wheaton Covered Bridge and farmers call for modern crossing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Jolicure resident Elita Rahn at the Wheaton Bridge, with the Tantramar River in the background. Photo: Erica Butler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jolicure resident Elita Rahn started the petition on change.org<\/a>, and is now working with Tantramar MLA Megan on a paper petition that Mitton can present in the provincial legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rahn says she has never created a petition before, but was moved to help ensure \u201cwe don’t lose one more New Brunswick icon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rahn says she used to bike and drive across the bridge regularly. \u201cIt\u2019s just a beautiful way to get to Sackville from Jolicure,\u201d says Rahn. Like many New Brunswickers, she grew up in a place with a covered bridge, and says \u201call those memories and connections to our past\u2026 I really feel like that’s vital.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mitton says that while the government was in \u2018caretaker mode\u2019 during the election, she\u2019s 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), \u201cto bring him up to speed, and urge him to move with speed on this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis has been months and months of this really important road and bridge basically being unusable,\u201d says Mitton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Farmer Weldon Estabrooks stands before a portrait of the Wheaton Bridge featuring one of his tractors, by local artist Robert Lyons. Photo: Erica Butler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would say there’s 3000 or 4000 acres that are serviced by this bridge,\u201d says Estabrooks, \u201cand probably four or five other farms right in our immediate area.\u201d There\u2019s also a community pasture that\u2019s been affected, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Famers transport their cattle to and from pasture in the spring and fall, says Estabrooks, \u201cand 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estabrooks says he also values the heritage in the old covered bridge. \u201cOur ancestors went through it,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I guess the biggest thing is, we can’t stop progress. We need to keep moving forward, be more efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He says there\u2019s room for both. \u201cWe 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,\u201d he says. \u201cOr do whatever DTI thought was right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cwe need to have a modern day bridge put in there that will allow us to haul loads and use modern day equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBack in the 70s, that bridge probably was rated at somewhere around 30 to 40 tons,\u201d recalls Anderson. \u201cAnd today it has been reduced down to a five ton bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d says Anderson. \u201cThey’ve narrowed the width of it, and it’s not really adequate for today’s equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you had some major catastrophe out on the highway,\u201d says Anderson, \u201cyou may really need this road for an important secondary way out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the last number of years, says Anderson, \u201cthey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAgriculture is very important to me and to the area,\u201d says Anderson, \u201cbut it’s also, I think, very important as an emergency route for the whole community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cStructural 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\u2019s patience while staff identify the best option for the bridge going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Hear this story as reported on Tantramar Report:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n