Crumbling Caledonia bridge 'remains safe,' says Ministry of Transportation

The Ministry of Transportation insists that completing Caledonia's crumbling Argyle Street Bridge is a top priority; there is still not much word on when.

The ministry has said that the bridge is inspected monthly, with the last visual inspection completed Nov. 8, and the bridge remains safe with the restrictions currently in place."

Work to prepare for construction continues and the community will be informed prior to construction start," said ministry spokesperson Aruna Aundhia.

Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Bobbi Ann Brady brought concerns surrounding the bridge to Queen's Park in August, and a second time on Dec. 7.

This government has had over four years to begin reconstruction and all we've seen is stalling, secrecy and finger-pointing - oh, and we've also seen a woman kicked out of her home on the north side of the bridge," she said. Speaker, today I am seeking an adequate, satisfactory response for the community of Caledonia and for the community of Haldimand county as a whole.

This is a community that has been through so much over the past several years and they deserve an answer."

Parliamentary assistant to the minister of transportation, Hardeep Singh Grewal, agreed, saying that conservation and consultations were active, and completing the Argyle Street Bridge project was an absolute priority."

Speaker, our government is committed to bringing this project over the finish line and our goal is to see this bridge restored as soon as possible."

Grewal referred to interim safety measures already in place, such as weight restrictions and temporary roadwork, and intermittent monitoring the bridge.

While this project remains an absolute top priority at the Ministry of Transportation, we are continuing to speak with the city and with our (ministry) project managers to have this move along," he said.

Ward 3 Coun. Dan Lawrence said that the statement provided the same non-answers."

Let me guess, the bridge is a priority, they're doing everything they can,' it's pathetic," he said. It's truly pathetic.

They had to get Lorrie (Harcourt) out of the toll house, they had to move the mussels, but since then, it's been crickets, we keep getting the same ambiguous answers, over and over, and that isn't just wrong, it's ludicrous."

The bridge was found to have deteriorated in late 2001 during a biannual inspection. The following year, the ministry started the years-long process of a preliminary design and class environmental assessment to identify a long-term strategy that would ultimately decide that the bridge needed to be replaced.

Short-term repairs were made in 2008, and a transportation environmental study report was completed in 2009.

A detailed design and class environmental assessment study was started 2014, and a design and construction report, including all previous reports, was filed in March 2020.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: With another recent collision closing Argyle Street Bridge, we sought an update on the Ministry of Transportation's replacement plans, on hold since 2021.