N.B. government says adding sidewalk to resurfaced Miramichi bridge would ‘throw it out of balance’

The New Brunswick government says adding a sidewalk to the Centennial Bridge would throw it out of balance.

The New Brunswick government says adding a sidewalk to resurfacing plans on Miramichi’s Centennial Bridge would throw the entire span “out of balance.”

“It’s not that I don’t want a sidewalk,” said Transportation Minister Chuck Chiasson, to reporters on Wednesday. “A sidewalk has to be a separate project, because the safety standards of today kind of dictate what we need to do to rehab that bridge.”

On Sunday, about 100 demonstrators gathered on the Centennial Bridge to protest refurbishment plans that don’t include a sidewalk.

“The actual sidewalk cannot be attached to the bridge because it will throw it out of balance. It has to be supported from the piers,” said Chiasson. “We have to have a certain lane width. We have to have certain widths of a breakdown lane and then we have to have obviously the barriers that keep people from driving off the side of the bridge.”

Chiasson said the provincial government was speaking with the municipality about the possibility of adding bus passes and water taxis, to address accessibility issues for pedestrians once the refurbishment is complete.

In April, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure said the sidewalk was removed from bridge refurbishment plans due to financial restraints.

On Friday, MLA Michelle Conroy said removing sidewalks from the bridge’s refurbishment plan would negatively impact the community.

“The people of Miramichi deserve the independence to safely walk across that bridge,” said Conroy.

An estimated 13,000 vehicles cross the Centennial Bridge daily. A full shutdown of the 58-year-old bridge, initially scheduled for this summer, has been delayed to 2026.

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