Demolition Of Coteau Street East Bridge Once Again Heading To Council

After seeing area residents appear twice at Council asking the City to reconsider the demolition of the Coteau Street East Bridge it appears those efforts may have been for not if an Administration recommendation is adopted by Council this coming Tuesday evening.

Administration will be recommending doing no repairs and demolition of the bridge in 2027.

A major component of Administration’s report Council will discuss about the bridge’s future is the lack of available funds to repair or replace the 108 year old structure.

Funds Administration says are needed for other structures the City is responsible for.

A woman walks her dog across the Coteau Street East Bridge on Sunday afternoon - MJ Independent photo

“With consideration to the remaining fourteen (14) structures under City responsibility and the limits of capital dollars, Administration found the best option for the bridge is do nothing and demolish in 2027,” the Administration report council will consider on Tuesday evening reads.

An updated condition assessment of the bridge - May 2022 - will also be presented to Council.

Council will consider a cost analysis of how much a set of options for either demolishing the bridge or repairing it and replacing it in various ways will cost. See chart below.

Options and Cost Analysis For Coteau Street East Bridge - source report dated May 10, 2022 to Moose Jaw City Council

In November 2021 area resident Phil Siggelkow appeared before Council with a petition and won a temporary reprieve for the bridge as Council agreed the bridge had been looked at by the City not as something to save but rather something to demolish.

In November Council agreed to have Administration speak to CN Rail about not demolishing the Coteau Street East Bridge but rather cost sharing saving or replacing the structure.

Discussions with CN Rail have discovered the railway is not interested in repairing or replacing the bridge.

CN Rail has indicated the draft letter of agreement and demolition work permit unnecessary and they will not be finalizing these at this time.

Previous to Council agreeing to take another look at saving the Coteau Street East Bridge Council had approved funding to demolish the bridge in the 2021 Budget.

For a full look at the documents and reports Council is set to consider visit moosejaw.ca or click the link and follow the links to view the documents on the agenda page.