THUNDER BAY -- It's about time the James Street Swing Bridge is reopened, local residents said one day after a court order was handed down ordering the Canadian National Railway to allow vehicles to travel across the span.
The Ontario Court of Appeal on Monday ruled the railway is obligated to maintain the bridge under the original 1906 agreement that gave citizens the "perpetual right" to cross. The bridge, which connects Thunder Bay to Fort William First Nation across the Kaministiquia River, has been closed to car traffic since a fire broke out on the northern approach spans on the night of Oct. 29, 2013.
“I think it’s about time,” said Dwane Whittington, who works as a gas station attendant for K&A Variety.
“It should have always been the CN who should have fixed it, and it should have been done a long time ago."
During the nearly five-year closure, motorists have been forced to use Highway 61 to Chippewa Road to travel between the two communities.
Whittington and his co-worker Darcy Vaillant both cited safety as the major concern that has affected the community since the closure of the bridge.
“I think it’s a good thing if they’ve finally settled it,” Vaillant said. “The crashes, and also ambulance service and fire service…They can get here quicker with the bridge.”
In January 2017, a three-vehicle collision on a stretch of highway between Broadway Avenue and Chippewa Road resulted in a fatality. One week after the crash the Ministry of Transportation announced a planning study would likely be conducted for the highway between Arthur Street and Loch Lomond Road.
Vaillant said he doesn’t believe the closure has affected business all that much, but expects more people to gas up if the bridge re-opens.
“With slow driving, and traffic lights… it slows you down a lot,” said Vaillant, who commutes from Port Arthur.
Local resident Brad Dunn, however, met the decision with displeasure. He believes the city should be responsible for building a bridge that is separate from CN.
“The [city] has already wasted so much money on lawyers and court fees,” Dunn said. “Leave the freight trains for themselves, it’s their bridge. Let them have it; it’s old.”
There is no timetable for when CN must reopen the bridge.
