Trestle Trail Bridge Closing For Final Repairs

A popular trail outside Liverpool will be closed for repairs until the fall.

The Trestle Trail Bridge will begin a second phase of construction in June to finish repairs begun last summer.

President of the Queens Rails to Trails Association Brian Hatt says closing the popular trail is short-term pain for long-term gain.

“Well, it’s saving the bridge, basically. If we didn’t get on this we may have lost it forever. [It’s a] very important link to a lot of people.”

Hatt says once this round of the work is complete the bridge shouldn’t need any major work for ten years.

“Well, overall, if we can get everything done this year, then the public will be certainly happy to have it finished and hopefully we’ll stay open for a long time.”

J Mason Contracting of Fall River has once again been selected to perform the work after completing the first phase of the project including replacing an abutment and a pier, under time and under budget.

The bridge reopened in September 2019 after being closed for a good part of the previous five years.

Hatt says the association is very grateful to the J and W Murphy Foundation who committed to covering half the cost of all the repairs.

“We’re really fortunate to get that support. That helps us with getting other partners involved.”

Those partners included the Region of Queens, Province of Nova Scotia and Government of Canada who helped cover the balance of the estimated $1.5 million project.

Once it has reopened, Hatt says the bridge will form an important link between Halifax and Yarmouth.

“It gets everyone through Queens County. This would be for motorized vehicles, ATVs, dirt bikes, bicycles, it’s going to be an important link to get the South Shore connected.”

Hatt says Queens County is fortunate to have many trails people can use until the repairs are complete and the bridge reopens sometime in late October.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson