It has taken four long years for Port Robinson residents Bill Klassen and Ron Devereux to win over the city. But after many meetings, design proposals, and public information sessions, there’s finally a plan in motion to replace the South Main Street Bridge and save the surrounding ecosystem.
“It started off as a ‘Save the Bridge’ project, but the city will refer to it now as the ‘South Main Street Bridge/EcoPark,’” says Klassen, in an interview with ThoroldToday. “This doesn’t exist anywhere else. A little place encapsulated by subdivisions on either side and it’s beautiful. Not untouched nature, but as close as you can get. It would be an absolute shame to lose this sort of thing.”
When the City of Thorold announced the impending closure of the South Main Street Bridge in 2018, neighbours Devereux and Klassen sprung into action to save the little spot.
“What happened is that the city sort of noticed it on their books as a liability,” says Klassen. “They had this infrastructure that hadn’t been maintained since the ‘70s, so somebody made an arbitrary decision that it is in bad shape and it needs to be closed and removed.”
Up until the 1970s, the bridge was used for vehicles. But after a road was constructed around the bridge, it became a pedestrian walkway, creating an ideal breeding ground for turtles and swallows.
“Ironically, because the bridge was neglected, this whole ecosystem has been saved,” says Klassen. “Without this bridge, all this would be trampled by people trying to get down to the water.”
“You have a mature ecosystem, with a residential area on both sides,” adds Devereux. “Where do you find that in such good condition? The point that we keep making is that the bridge provides a unique opportunity: I call it the midstream view. You can walk across and look down and you see so much activity in the creek as if you were in a drone or in a boat. If you’re standing at the shore line you can’t see what you can see.”
Trying to save the bridge and its ecosystem wasn’t a lonely task, as Devereux and Klassen had the support of the other residents in Port Robinson.
“It’s easy because it’s a labour of love,” says Devereux. “All we can do as we’re taken on as the volunteer leaders, we try and bring it to the forefront but we need all those other residents’ support and that has what has made this so easy.”
Devereux and Klassen point out that the bridge is a meeting point for local residents to engage in a variety of activities, such as paddling and fishing. The new bridge will allow all these activities to continue.
The project will take place in four phases, with phase one taking care of the re-nesting of the turtles and the swallows. Phase two is the main part of the project and will see the deck of the bridge replaced. Phase three will be used to create a boat ramp and water dock, and phase four will focus on a wildflower field and parking area.
However, city council is still waiting on a report from the city's planner before adding the project to the 2022 budget.
“The total amount of this project was put in a deferred category but it’s still there so there is a commitment to it,” says Klassen. “The report is how we’re going to cost out and prepare for phase one. That’s what they’ve instructed their city planner to do. So they can cost it and then they can put it in the budget.”
With a council election coming up later this year, Klassen and Devereux are hopeful they won’t have to convince a whole new group of politicians that the bridge is worth saving.
“Who knows? Do we have to start over with a new slate or is there enough carry-over of the people that are behind the project?” asks Klassen. “As far as worrying, there’s an old saying I always remember: ‘Worrying is like praying for what you don’t want,’ so I tend not to worry. I think we’re optimistic that we got a plan, that the ball is rolling, and now we’re going to try to keep that ball moving as smoothly as possible until this is done.”
