It appears the federal government is partly chipping in for the Edward Street bridge replacement.
Thunder Bay city council voted to approve the work, which begins this summer, and will shut down a portion of the road, leading to detours.
Director of Engineering Kayla Dixon told city council Monday night she believes some of the funding is from the gas tax, but they also look elsewhere. “Certainly we do look for grants and other programs that are available for funding. Often, at least recently, they have not included road infrastructure, whether that be roads, bridges or culverts.”
She adds the roughly $6.5-million work will use some pre-fabricated material, after Councillor Aldo Ruberto asked if that can save up to 40% of the bill.
“In this case we have a four lane structure, we’ve got sidewalks on both sides. There are some challenges as far as span as well. In this case we are using some pre-fab concrete,” notes Dixon.
When asked by some councillors if public art could be added to this work, she said she could look into it.
