Additional funding approved for Brant’s Crossing Bridge project

Plans to replace a bridge that connects southwest Brant to the city’s downtown are moving forward.

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City councilors, at a Tuesday (Aug. 6) committee meeting, recommended for approval a $6,757,772 project to replace Brant’s Crossing Bridge.

If the plan is approved by city council on Aug. 27, the project will go to tender in the fall with construction beginning in 2025.

“The bridge is a key connection for the city between southwest Brant and the downtown,” Inderjit Hans, the city’s commissioner of public works, said.

Hans said the project fits in with much of the structural rehabilitation testing being done on the nearby Lorne Bridge and the successful public art project earlier this year on the TH & B bridge.

Plans call for the new bridge to be higher than the existing Brant’s Crossing, Hans said.

The bridge was temporarily closed following a flood and ice jam on the Grand River in February 2018. It was reopened in December 2021 after some minor rehabilitation work was completed.

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Originally constructed in 1875 for train traffic, Brant’s Crossing Bridge is a steel pedestrian structure behind the Civic Center and Earl Haig Family Fun Park, between the Lorne Bridge and the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo (TH&B) Crossing.

The bridge was replaced in 1913 and converted to a pedestrian and cycling crossing in the mid-1990s. It is an important connection for residents of Lorne Towers as an alternative to the Lorne Bridge, which is primarily for vehicles, Hans said in a report prepared for councillors.

The bridge provides pedestrian access to the Civic Center during Brantford Bulldogs games, Earl Haig and is a place for people to look out over the Grand River. It would also serve as a connection to the proposed Sports Entertainment Centre.

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The project includes $250,000 to cover the cost for the design, construction and installation of a commemorative art sculpture and plaque. Plans call for the city to issue a call to artists for the sculpture which will include pieces of the existing bridge.

The project was projected to cost $5 million when it was initiated in 2022. But with most of the design work now completed and with construction costs and materials rising, the cost of the project has increased by $1,757 million.

Councilors recommended for approval adding $1,760 million, rounding up the figure of $1,757 million, to the project’s budget.

The additional funds will come from the city’s Canada Community Building Fund Reserve, previously known as gas tax funding from the federal government.

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