By Cecilia Nasmith
Northumberland County advises the public of the closure of Loomis Bridge on Pinewood School Road in the Municipality of Brighton.
The county has in recent years imposed load restrictions on the single-lane timber-deck bridge, as it has approached the end of its lifespan. Those restrictions increased in 2017 as a result of the bridge's condition. The most recent inspection, just last month, confirmed a level of structural decline that cannot be resolved through repair. As a result, engineers have concluded that the bridge must be closed to vehicular traffic.
Director of Transportation, Waste and Facilities Mo Pannu offered regrets in the press release for the inconvenience to those who use this bridge regularly.
“Our priority is to ensure public safety on our road network and, unfortunately, the condition of this bridge has reached the point where a closure is warranted.”
The press release pointed out that this bridge has some of the lowest traffic volumes of the 112 bridges under county management,
“The county is confident that redirecting traffic via alternative routes using County Road 30 – which is accessible from either side of the bridge – will not result in significant impact to traffic on these routes,” the announcement said.
Barriers are in place on both sides of the bridge to prevent access, and signage has been posted to advise residents of the closure due to safety considerations.
