Fort William bridge officially open for local traffic

By Rick Garrick

FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION — Vehicle traffic is once again flowing steadily across the James Street Swing Bridge between Fort William and Thunder Bay after it was officially re-opened on Nov. 9.

“The excitement of the bridge being opened ran through the city and ran through the community of Fort William pretty rapidly, so the excitement of having access back into the city, back into the community is very important to us,” says Fort William Chief Peter Collins after the grand re-opening ceremony. “Our communities are happy and I think our businesses will be happy and our kids will be safe in transporting them into the city next week.”

Chief Collins says his sister Evelyn Pelletier was the second person to drive across the bridge, which spans the Kaministiquia River.

“That access is very important to our community and not only to our community, [but] to the city and the Westfort area,” Chief Collins says. “I talked to the folks at Robin’s [located on James Street in Westfort] this morning and they already see the impact on the traffic in their coffee shop. So it’s great news — it’s a great opportunity and I’m glad it’s back open.”

Chief Collins thanked the City of Thunder Bay and the mayors and councillors who “put a lot of effort and a lot of time” into getting the bridge re-opened for vehicle traffic. The bridge was closed to vehicle traffic more than six years ago after a fire on the northern end of the bridge. CN, which owns the bridge, repaired the bridge for train traffic at the time but did not repair it for vehicle traffic.

“We are pleased to see this important connection between Thunder Bay and Fort William First Nation finally reopened,” says Thunder Bay Mayor Bill Mauro. “We recognize the challenges and frustrations citizens from both communities have faced without this access point. CN, as directed by the highest court in Ontario, has fulfilled their obligation to repair the bridge and we can now move forward as more connected communities.”

CN was ordered by the courts to uphold its contractual obligation to repair and reopen the bridge to all vehicles under the 1906 Agreement after a lengthy court battle. The Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the city in June of 2018, and ordered CN to reopen the bridge. The Supreme Court of Canada subsequently denied CN’s leave for appeal.

“Thunder Bay City Council has been resolute on this matter, their resolve has been unwavering from the beginning,” says Norm Gale, city manager with Thunder Bay. “The city’s legal team and engineers provided expert advice to city council throughout this process.”

CN states that the drivable lane width of the bridge is unchanged at 9.33 feet, the speed limit is 20 kilometres per hour and the load carrying restriction is 15,000 kilograms.

“CN is pleased that the bridge is reopening and that this important road link in Thunder Bay is once again accessible to the public,” says Olivier Chouc, vice-president of Law at CN. “The leadership of Chief Peter Collins was instrumental in getting to where we are today and we would like to thank him for his commitment to the greater good of his community.”

Fort William Councillor Tannis Kastern says it is “a sense of relief” to not have to travel on the highway to Thunder Bay every day.

“It’s kind of emotional — we did lose one of our community members in that six-year span,” Kastern says. “But I am glad to see the work of the city and Chief Collins battling CN to do what was right in the first place actually came to fruition today.”