Commuters should prepare for disruptions as Centennial Bridge set to close: Miramichi mayor

Miramichi Mayor Adam Lordon talks about the upcoming extended closure of the city's Centennial Bridge.

A big change is coming for commuters in Miramichi, N.B. The city’s landmark Centennial Bridge is set to close for several months on Monday.

Starting at 7 a.m., the bridge will be fully closed for eight months until December. It’s the first of two closures over the next two years that will see the replacement of the bridge deck and other improvements.

Adam Lordon is the mayor of Miramichi, northern New Brunswick’s largest city. He told CTV Your Morning Atlantic’s Crystal Garrett that “the Centennial Bridge is a beautiful piece of flagship infrastructure for our community. In many ways, it’s that core identity for our community.”

The 59-year-old bridge links Douglastown and Chatham; over 13,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily.

Mayor Lordon says the bridge closure will result in significant disruptions and add time to the commute for motorists who usually travel over the bridge.

“Folks are encouraged to make adjustments,” he says. “We’re encouraging people to try to travel in off-peak hours if they can, outside of rush hour.”

The city is also taking steps to mitigate the disruption of the bridge closure, according to the mayor.

“Everything from our Miramichi’s city transit to protective services, fire and police. Of course, traffic flow, garbage pickup. All of the things that the city is responsible for, we’ve made adjustments for,” says Lordon.

They’ve extended the hours for the city’s transit and New Brunswick will also provide ferry service to run in the summer months from Chatham to Douglastown.

Lordon also says the city has made formal requests to the federal government as well as the provincial government, the latter of which will be working on the Centennial Bridge upgrades.

It’s also encouraging the private sector to adjust work hours for their employees.

Lordon says they’ve just found out that the Federal Pay Centre, one of the biggest employers in the community, has agreed to go back to a primarily work-from-home model.

“So that’s a big help,” he says.

The City of Miramichi has had time to prepare for the closure as the Centennial Bridge’s closure date has been pushed back over the years.

“There’s been about three years in a row where it was supposed to happen and not happened, so the city has had plans prepared for some time, which, of course, every year we’ve refined including this year. So we feel that we’re as ready to go forward as we can be,” says Lordon.

With the province’s ferry service, the updated transit hours and modified workforce hours, Lordon says there will be a number of options for people.

“They won’t be as quick and smooth as when the bridge is fully open, but we think they’ll help people,” he says.

“We’ll get through this together, it’ll be painful but as minimal in that regard as possible.”

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