Lamont County will be providing some funding assistance to the Village of Chipman to help fund a $1.8 million bridge replacement.
Last year it was discovered that the bridge located on Range Road 185 had serious issues. Traffic control measures were put in place to limit vehicles to the interior portion of the bridge.
To help determine how busy the bridge is on a day-to-day basis, the county installed two traffic counters on either side of the bridge. After gathering results from the counters, it was determined that about 203 vehicles travel across the bridge in both directions on any given day.
An estimate on the cost of the replacement came in at $1.8 million, 75 per cent ($1.35 million) of which will be covered by the province through the Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program (STIP).
Chipman would be responsible for funding the remaining $450,000 required for the project. The village decided to ask the county to help them come up with this funding.
As a result of the traffic counting process, Lamont County decided to help Chipman with the funding, agreeing to cover 80 per cent ($360,000) of the remaining costs. This would leave Chipman responsible for the final $90,000.
A timeline for the construction of the replacement bridge has not yet been revealed.