The closure of a bridge requires a detour of 49 km

Jean-François Desbiens

Monday, 29 January, 2018 22:19

UPDATE
Monday, 29 January, 2018 22:20

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SHERBROOKE | The closure of the bridge over the rivière Saint-François near Bishop’s university, south of Sherbrooke, will force truck drivers to make a detour of 49 kilometres to be able to take route 108 to Cookshire-Eaton and vice-versa.

The deck of the bridge, heavily damaged by weather conditions and temperature changes of the past few weeks, is dotted with potholes. On Monday morning, employees of the ministry of Transport (MTQ) would be busy elsewhere to fill huge potholes to ten centimeters of depth.

As a result, trucks of over 18 tons cannot cross the bridge since last Friday.

The road traffic controllers have spent the day in the area to do outreach with the refractory, which were fi restrictions. The drivers who choose them despite the many signs indicating the detour to be subject to a fine of $600.

Highway 108 is the main road link between the eastern Townships and the Beauce. It is estimated that about 1300 the number of trucks that travel daily on the bridge.

The truck drivers who were passing normally through the centre of Lennoxville to go to Lac-Megantic and Beauce shall now move on to East Angus via route 112, where they may take the route 253 which will take them to the centre of the village of Cookshire-Eaton. From there, they can return to their usual route towards the Beauce.

It is a detour of 49 miles which takes between 30 and 45 minutes, depending on time of day and traffic.

The MTQ is unable to say when the weight restriction will be lifted, but it could remain in place for several weeks.

Truck drivers are also well used to it, since the deck of the bridge should be completely redesigned in 2018, after having been postponed by 2017. This work will result in the closure of the bridge for a long period of time.