One year and three delays later, the Third Street Bridge in Chatham is finally open, and overall, residents are pleased.
The bridge was opened by the Municipality of Chatham-Kent late Wednesday afternoon, and several locals came out to see the completed project.
"It's quite nice," said Jon Stass, who added the bridge's completion has been a long time in the making. "I do have to say it's got a much better curb appeal than the other one," Stass said.
Other residents echoed similar sentiments and gave the contractors kudos for a job well done.
"It's created quite a congestion," Tom Kumagai said to CKNewsToday.ca "Especially at noon hour, rush hour and 5 o'clock, so this is really going to be good."
While there is some relief within the community that the bridge is finally open, workers were supposed to have part of it open last fall. As a result of the missed deadline, the contractors were dealt hefty fines for missing the deadlines.
It was last spring that the town council announced the upgrades for the bridge, which was built over the Thames River in 1961. Before this latest major upgrade, the bridge had several other repairs done to it, too, including changes to its load-bearing capacity.
The Municipality said it will announce plans for an event to celebrate the new bridge and bridge sponsor, TekSavvy, shortly.
-With files from Millar Hill
