Officials have 'fingers crossed' for good weather, but snow won't stop Hillsborough Bridge work

Officials working on the Hillsborough Bridge are hoping snow holds off until the project is completed at the end of the month.

Crews are installing sewer pipes along the causeway and beneath the bridge to link the sewage handling systems in Stratford and Charlottetown.

"We haven't had enough snow that we needed to plow the Hillsborough Bridge," said Stephen Yeo, chief engineer with P.E.I.'s Department of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy.

There are many cones being used to direct traffic, and Yeo said if snow hits hard enough — a plan is in place.

"We're going to have to remove the cones, which will take about an hour. Then we are going to plow the bridge," he said.

"There hasn't been a snow event that we've had to remove the cones yet. Fingers crossed, we won't."

After the cones are gone, crews will have to wait until the snow passes before placing them back on the road.

"If we remove the cones the traffic is going to go back to the way the lines are painted on the road," he said.

That means there would be two lanes heading from Stratford to Charlottetown and one lane running in the other direction, Yeo said.

Preventative measures

There are also preventative measures being taken to avoid the impact of snow and slush.

"We get out and we salt the bridge early. If there are flurries coming or a little bit of snow, if we get enough salt down it melts it before it turns into a slush," Yeo said.

Yeo said there have been some complaints about downed traffic cones.

"If there are cones in your way, if you stop there our crews will be along shortly and move them out of the way and keep things moving," he said.

24-hour patrol

Crews patrol the bridge 24 hours a day, so people who see downed cones blocking the way, or have heavy machinery or an oversized vehicle that needs to cross can call 902-214-0874 for assistance, Yeo said.

Yeo said he is pleased with the project so far.

"It seems to be handling the traffic at rush hour, which is great," he said.

With the speed reduced, it does take a little bit longer to get across the bridge, but there is less congestion on the intersections on either side, Yeo said.

"The intersections seem to be clearing well and people are obeying and manoeuvring mostly correctly," he said.

All of the pipe is in the ground on the Charlottetown portion of the project, now the focus is on putting pipe down on the Stratford side.

Yeo said he expects that portion of the work to take up to two weeks.

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