Queen Street resident Sean Gulston is feeling the inconvenience of having half the street closed off.
With the Town of Newmarket closing the bridge in April for the foreseeable future due to safety concerns, residents like him now have only one way out of the street.
It makes an “absolutely huge” difference, he said.
“It’s very inconvenient,” he said. “You have to go around everything, literally. Horrible.”
Newmarket residents are voicing their concern about the new reality of the Queen Street bridge being closed.
Last week, the town said engineering had determined that the bridge was no longer safe to keep open. While it had planned to close the bridge sometime next year for reconstruction, it said that ongoing use from heavy trucks had hastened the deterioration and required them to push up the timeline.
Work on the bridge has been ongoing for years, with utility work most recently resulting in months-long lane closures.
Residents have reported the traffic woes the closure has created, with more cars getting directed through to Davis Drive.
Ana Trento said she uses the bridge regularly to drop her child off at school and get back home, avoiding traffic on Davis and Main Street.
She said that it is not a huge deal, but the added inconvenience was noteworthy.
“Yesterday I spent 10 extra minutes — which is crazy if you think about it, in a small town when I only drive 4.5 kilometres to get to where I go,” she said. “When the bridge closed last year, I think we all were counting the days until it reopened.”
Sue Williamson said she typically uses Queen daily.
“It’s a major inconvenience to either have to use Davis Drive or go over to Water Street,” she said.
The town has said it will try to accelerate the planned process to rehabilitate the bridge, pushing up tendering and construction to late 2024 if possible. The town originally planned to have the bridge closed for about a year, from spring 2025 to 2026, to allow for the construction.
“Thank you for your patience and understanding as we complete this important work to ensure the Queen Street bridge is safe for all to use,” the municipality said in a news release.
Sam Sudeyko lives in the area and said the closure will really mess up the traffic on Davis.
But he said the town does have to look after its infrastructure.
“It’s a bit of a problem because there’s just so much congestion here now,” Sudeyko said. “It’s just endless.”
