PORT COLBORNE, ON – Truck traffic in the Port Colborne area is about to turn ugly following damage to a bridge and planned closures for others, all resulting in detours in this area west of Buffalo NY.

On Sept. 30, Bridge 19 along Main Street/Highway 3, was closed after being hit by a ship. The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation is still assessing the extent of the damage and what repairs will be required. The bridge will remain closed to vehicular traffic until after the close of the shipping season in December. Repairs will begin in early January.

In the meantime, rehabilitation plans set for the Weir Bridge on Main Street/Highway 3 between Weir Road and King Street are still set to move forward it being closed from Oct. 13 to approximately Nov. 27, but that’s not all. 

There are two other bridges crossing the Welland Canal. Bridge 19A at Mellanby Avenue and Bridge 21 at Clarence Street. Truck traffic is not permitted on Bridge 21. At the present time, there can be anywhere from 14-20 ships passing under these bridges each and every day of the week until the end of December, according to officials

To bring this in to prospective for trucking, all through traffic on Main Street/Hwy 3 crossing the Welland Canal will now have to travel south on Welland Avenue, cross Bridge 19A, and continue further south on Mellanby Avenue to Killaly Street West, which will then lead them out of the city.

The crossing at Bridge 19A will become extremely busy and backed up, especially if Bridge 21 is raised to allow for shipping traffic and subsequently, when Bridge 19A is also raised for shipping traffic, according to Port Colborne. Trucks will have to wait upwards of 30 minutes while Bridge 19A is raised as truck traffic is not permitted to detour and cross Bridge 21.

“We are working with the region of Niagara and the Ministry of Transportation to develop an alternate truck route to encourage truck traffic that would have previously travelled along Highway 3, to seek an alternate route,” said Ron Hanson, director of engineering and operations for Port Colborne. We hope that this will help to relieve some of the congestion that may occur at Bridge 19A.”

Truck traffic from the Peace Bridge will be detoured along the QEW to Netherby Road and continue west on Townline Road/Forkes Road to the junction of Highway 3 at Regional Road 24 in Wainfleet.

Truck traffic will also be detoured north on Hwy 58 and Hwy 140 to Townline Road and Netherby Road.

Trucks travelling east on Hwy 3 in Wainfleet will be detoured to Forkes Road/Townline Road/Netherby Road also. Appropriate signage is reportedly being installed.

“We hope that members of the trucking industry will understand that these detours will most likely save them time rather than getting stopped in traffic and having to make difficult turns in the middle of the city,” said Port Colborne Mayor John Maloney.