Residents in Cherryvale, N.B., say they’re frustrated with the provincial government and are demanding the transportation minister meet with them to discuss the need for a new bridge in the community.
In 2014, flooding destroyed a covered bridge over the Canaan River, and residents say that bridge was never replaced.
Area-resident Donna Black said that’s lead to concerns over the safety of residents who fear being stranded and isolated in the event of an emergency.
More than a hundred people gathered at the site where the covered bridge once stood along Route 112, hoping to attract attention from the Gallant Government.
Black organized the rally and said a new billboard was erected that reads “disaster assistance will pay for replacement bridge: Liberal Government refuses to meet with community.”
Black said she and 10 other residents started a committee to reach out to the media and government officials to inform them that “rural lives matter.”
“It is very important that we are met by government officials so that they realize that we are still here, we feel like we have been forgotten and we are not going to be forgotten,” Black said. “It’s been four years now, we lost our bridge because of a disaster, a flood, and we still have not been met by any government officials yet.”
While there is another bridge that allows residents to travel in and out of the community, Black said that bridge isn’t safe to use when flooding occurs, cutting residents off from other parts of the province. She said the community experiences flooding three to five times a year.
“We have a bailey bridge and when the bailey bridge floods we cannot get to Salem Road,” Black said.
She said there are two farmers that live in the area and vets can’t access the farms during flooding. Black also said the only way for emergency officials to reach the community is by boat or helicopter if the only bridge is closed.
“There is another way in when we are not flooded. The point that we want to get out today is that our government officials have never come to meet us in our community concerning this problem, or any other problems that we have had,” Black said.
Black said the bridge is only one part of the problem.
She said lines on their other roads haven’t been painted, and there are unfilled potholes, leaving many frustrated and wondering where their tax dollars are going.
“You can talk to anyone in rural areas,” Black said. “They’ve taken ferries from us, it just goes on and on.”
Black said she’s also helped launched a petition that now has more than 2,000 signatures. She said Conservative MLA Ross Wetmore was in attendance at Saturday’s rally and said they presented him with the petition.
Government Response
In an email statement sent to Global News, Department of Transportation and Infrastructure spokesperson Jeremy Trevors said the decision to remove the Cherryvale Bridge is not one that the department will revisit.
“The decision, difficult as it was, has been made and won’t be reversed. The province’s financial situation simply doesn’t allow for us to take on the carryover costs of reinstalling a covered bridge, which will have to be maintained for years to come,” Trevors said.
Trevors said because the other bridge is only six kilometres away, there simply isn’t a viable case for reinstalling a bridge there.
He said the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure has responsibility for more than 3,200 bridges, including 58 covered bridges.