BRUCE COUNTY – The County of Bruce initiated a Class Environmental Assessment (Class EA) process in October 2019 to consider options associated with replacement of the Teeswater River Bridge.
The structure spans the Teeswater River along Bruce Road 3 in the Paisley. As part of the Class EA process, the county has considered a range of design alternatives associated with the new bridge as well as detour alternatives to allow traffic to detour around the site during construction of the new crossing. A preferred alternative for the bridge design and detour has now been selected.
The proposed bridge will be a two-span structure with wider sidewalks and viewing platforms on both sides. The railing will also be designed with a lower parapet wall and decorative railing to allow unobstructed views of the river. An in-town temporary detour route was selected for local traffic to minimize impacts to residents and the commercial district during reconstruction of the bridge.
The purpose of the Environmental Assessment process is to identify any potential environmental impacts associated with the proposal and to plan for appropriate mitigation of any impacts. The environmental assessment process has now been completed. There were no negative impacts identified with the project that could not be mitigated.
For further information on this project, please contact the project engineers: B.M. Ross and Associates Ltd., 62 North Street, Goderich, ON, N7A 2T4, telephone (toll free) 1-888-524-2641, Kelly Vader, environmental planner (e-mail kvader@bmross.net), prior to Feb. 6, 2022. Information will be collected in accordance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. With the exception of personal information, all comments will become part of the public record. An Environmental Screening Report, documenting the environmental assessment conducted for this project, is now available for public review on the County of Bruce website at www.brucecounty.on.ca.
Interested persons may provide written comments to the project team by Feb. 6. All comments and concerns should be sent directly to Jim Donohoe, engineering manager at the County of Bruce, email jdonohoe@brucecounty.on.ca or telephone 1-519-881-2400. In addition, a request may be made to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks for an order requiring a higher level of study (i.e., requiring an individual/comprehensive EA approval before being able to proceed), or that conditions be imposed (e.g., require further studies), only on the grounds that the requested order may prevent, mitigate, or remedy adverse impacts on constitutionally protected Aboriginal and treaty rights. Requests on other grounds will not be considered. Requests should include the requester contact information and full name for the ministry.
Requests should specify what kind of order is being requested (request for additional conditions or a request for an individual/comprehensive environmental assessment), how an order may prevent, mitigate, or remedy those potential adverse impacts, and any information in support of the statements in the request. This will ensure that the ministry is able to efficiently begin reviewing the request.
Additional information on where to send any request is available by contacting the county.
