Everton Bridge gets $1.5 million fix
By Chris Simon

One of Gilford's main access points is finally getting fixed.

Town council approved a plan to spend nearly $1.5 million for the replacement of Everton Bridge, a main route for emergency vehicles and one of the only ways out of Gilford for residents, during a meeting last week. As part of the plan, Everton Drive will be closed from March 1 to Nov. 30.

"It's going to be an inconvenience to residents, but in the end it'll be a benefit to the residents," said mayor Brian Jackson. "It's always unfortunate construction causes some concern. But we're going to try and mitigate the timeframe. It's an attempt to inconvenience the population as little as possible."

Preliminary work on the bridge will begin once Everton Drive is closed, with road construction beginning in May. Work on the bridge is expected to be completed by March 2009.

In 2005, the town was granted over $319,000 for the project through Canada Ontario Municipal Rural Infrastructure Funding. However, poor soil conditions and problems obtaining federal permits have held up construction, said town engineering technologist Gavin Watson, in a report to council.

"A number of challenges have been encountered during the design of the replacement bridge," he said. "To obtain (federal) approvals, the bridge was required to be raised so that two metres of clearance was achieved above the average summer water level. This requirement forced the town to undertake additional flood line modeling to ... confirm the new structure and road did not impact flooding on lands upstream. Our soil consultant also found very poor soil conditions in the area of the bridge, as well as a considerable distance north and south under Everton Drive."

Other requirements, like preloading the soil around the bridge and capping gas mains, were unexpected when the project was originally being planned, said Watson.

But the bridge needs to be replaced, and has already been reduced to one lane of traffic, he said.

"The existing Everton Bridge is in poor condition," he said. "The town should proceed with the project and take advantage of the current COMRIF funding allocated."

Councillor Lynn Dollin says the project is long overdue. The bridge has caused concern among local residents and town staff over the last few years.

"I'm glad to see we're ripping the band-aid off this," she said.

Council had expressed concerns over the initial length of time the bridge is expected to close and the required vehicle weight restrictions.

Staff have since reduced the project timeframe by about a month and a half, something that could slightly increase the overall project cost, said Watson.

However, delaying the project further would have caused construction timing problems and even COMRIF funding, he said.

"COMRIF funding for this project may not be available to the municipality in future years," he said. "Any further delay in commencing the project could result in the project not being completed within Department of Fisheries and Oceans (timelines) or by March, which is the deadline to have all the works completed under the COMRIF agreement."