'Signature' bridges over French River to be open in September 2020

The two new bridges that will carry Highway 400 across the 200-metre French River canyon are beginning to take shape.

Travellers will have noticed the first bridge supports jutting out from the rock walls and a huge crane standing by to put steel girders into place.

Mike Tymeczko is the contract services administrator overseeing the $24 million project for the Ministry of Transportation.

He says once the steel structure is in place, workers will pour concrete down into it to form the road bed, which people will start driving on in September 2020. 

"I guess because of the span and because of this being a signature river, they wanted to build something that was more of a heritage bridge here and these inclined legs were what was selected because of the esthetics and staying out of the water," says Tymeczko.

This section of the new four-laned Highway 69 is expected to be complete by 2021.

After that, there are currently no other construction projects scheduled to close the 68-kilometre gap that is still two lanes between the recently completed divided highway. 

The four-laning of the road between Sudbury and Parry Sound has been under review since the Conservatives came to power last year.

But Eric Doidge, the ministry's regional director in northeastern Ontario, says the next phase of construction is on the horizon.

"We're still waiting to get our final approvals from the government to move forward to final construction on those other sections, so like I said, stay tuned, we're hoping to announce more on that in the near future," he says.