Covehead Bridge reopening delayed by a week
Safety features key to new design
The reopening of the Covehead Bridge has been delayed by about a week.
Initially, construction on the bridge was supposed to be complete by mid July. That's now been revised to July 29.
- Covehead Bridge to close to traffic until spring
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Covehead Bridge in P.E.I. National Park opening delayed a week
The delay is due to normal construction reasons, including weather, according to Annette Campbell, a communications officer with Parks Canada.
Timed traffic light
Drivers should only have to wait a couple of minutes.- Annette Campbell, Parks Canada
The bridge is open to one lane of traffic, and that will continue for the rest of July.
There's a timed traffic light to keep vehicles flowing in both directions, said Campbell.
"Drivers should only have to wait a couple of minutes."
It's expected that both lanes on the bridge will be open to traffic once again as of July 29.
But on Sept. 7, the bridge will be closed again — temporarily — for three weeks so crews can pave the driving lines and apply water-proofing.
New safety features
The bridge is getting a couple of new safety features.
One is a two-metre barrier added to the side guardrails to prevent swimmers from jumping off the side.
Parks said it's dangerous to jump off the bridge because a boat could be travelling underneath, or jumpers could land on other hazards such as anchors, lobster traps, rope or broken glass.
The inward curving bars did not allow enough clearance for cyclists- Annette Campbell, Parks Canada
The barrier curves outwards and is designed to make it difficult to scale.
Some bridges have inward curves to their barriers, but that could pose a hazard to cyclists hitting their heads as they travel over Covehead Bridge.
"The inward curving bars did not allow enough clearance for cyclists to pass underneath," said Campbell.
Safer sidewalks
In addition, the south side of the bridge will have a three-metre-wide raised sidewalk for pedestrian and cyclists.
The north side sidewalk will be standard width and reserved just for pedestrians, said Campbell.
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