Long Point Causeway Bridge, FAQ responses

Do you plan on putting fibre optic down the causeway and through the bridge for future internet broadband?

Construction will include a new joint-use utility trench with capacity for new fibre optic infrastructure.

The new bridge must have a much higher elevation than the current bridge to allow boat access under the bridge, particularly important in high water situations.

The bridge soffit (underside) elevation will remain the same as the existing structure to minimize the increase in roadway elevation over the bridge and on the approaches. This is done so that access can be maintained to the local side streets and driveways adjacent to Big Creek. Raising the soffit any further would also increase impacts to the adjacent environmentally-sensitive lands.

Many visitors including families with young children like to fish near the bridge, and they are seen almost every day during vacation season. While the construction will be understandably disruptive, please consider maintaining some spots in the nearby terrain which could be used for fishing and not present undue falling danger for people who are casual anglers. Areas with crevices, steep drops, or slippery footing could present a danger of accident. Additionally, the design should minimize the possible danger to pedestrians from passing vehicles.

Providing areas for recreational uses adjacent to a live construction zone will be difficult to maintain and present a safety risk. We encourage visitors to the area to find alternate locations for fishing while construction is ongoing.

It should be noted that the bridge and adjacent areas are not County-designated fishing spots and are designed for its function as a roadway/bridge, not for fishing. The bridge and road approaches will be graded according to roadway design standards.

To accommodate pedestrians and cyclists along the causeway, the design includes 1.5-m-wide paved shoulders on the roadway and 1.8-m-wide paved shoulders on the bridge to provide sufficient room and buffer from passing vehicles.

Please ensure that this bridge can handle heavy vehicles and will be durable for at least 100 years.

The bridge has been designed to support highway traffic loads in accordance with the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code. Furthermore, in accordance with the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code, the structure has been designed to have a service life of 75 years.

The current bridge hosts a large colony of Barn Swallows and at times Northern Rough-winged Swallows and Eastern Phoebe. Disturbance to this colony should be minimized – deconstruction of the old bridge before May 1, or after ~September 1. The new bridge should be designed ‘swallow-friendly’ so that there are nesting opportunities for swallows on the new bridge. If a nesting structure is to be installed, it should be at least the size of the habitat that is being destroyed.

Construction activities will be scheduled and executed in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations, and standards, as well as in accordance with permit, approval, and authorization requirements. Mitigation measures will be based on the conditions in the permits issued by the appropriate Agency.

Will copies of the permits and their conditions, once received, be made publicly available? E.g. MECP, SARA, so the public knows what mitigation strategies have been agreed upon?

Updates will be posted on County website as required.

I am deeply disappointed that the new bridge design does not provide for a possibility of a dedicated and/or physically separated bicycle and pedestrian lanes.

May I please request the rationale or any long term plan according to which this omission has occurred?

Paved shoulders are merely a status quo. Any future, potential, dedicated bike lanes on the causeway will now be running into the roadblock of having a bridge that cannot accommodate them (no pun intended). My family and I would love to be able to safely bike along the causeway, however, sharing the road with the busy traffic makes the proposition risky for my wife and my young kids. I think that we are likely one of many families having the same concerns, where the causeway is a barrier, unless one is in a car.

During the Environmental Assessment (EA) and preliminary design phase of the project, Norfolk County reviewed design alternatives for the roadway and the bridge. The final design includes 1.5-m-wide on-road paved shoulders and 1.8-m-wide paved shoulders on the bridge.

While developing design options, the project team considered implementing a 4.0-m-wide off-road/separated multi-use path on the west side of the causeway. While this is an attractive option that would offer additional safety and comfort for active transportation users and encourage recreation in the area, there are significant constraints that prevented this option from being recommended as part of this study. Specifically, it would have substantial impacts on the highly sensitive natural environment, requiring permits and property from the Canadian Wildlife Service. Permitting and property acquisition would take several years to resolve and would be a costly endeavour. Ultimately, this option was recommended to be completed as a future and separate initiative from this study.

Likewise, the bridge is also constrained to the east due to the proximity of the residential/commercial properties and to the west due to the wetland habitat. The cross-section allows for wider shoulders (1.8 m on both sides) on the bridge than on the roadway while minimizing encroachments to either side.

Due to these spatial constraints, limited improvements can be made. As such, we are not pursuing any separated facilities beyond the proposed road and bridge improvements as described in the EA.