Council for the Township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh voted this week to permanently close Balls Bridge to vehicle traffic, supporting a direction given by Central Huron council last month.
The Balls Bridge Board recommended closing the structure to vehicles after several were caught on camera doing "burnouts," which it said threatened "integrity and safety of the bridge."
There are currently various repairs required for the bridge, which are expected to cost upwards of $500,000.
"The deck has started to deteriorate, and at our end there's two or three boards gone and you can see through down below," Deputy Mayor Bill Vanstone, who sits on the committee, told council. "We need to do it sooner than later... if it's down to a walking bridge, I think it will last a long time."
The bridge was temporarily closed to vehicular traffic, but the board needed the approval of both municipalities to make the move to pedestrian only traffic permanent.
Council voted in favour of the closure. However, the report from staff noted that their are no residents on the Central Huron side impacted by the closure, but six ACW residents will now have to travel an additional seven kilometres to bypass the closure during the warmer months.
The bridge is closed in the winter.
Central Huron already directed staff to permanently close the bridge to vehicles on June 16.
The bridge spans the Maitland River, along the border of both municipalities, and has been their joint responsibility since it was downloaded by Huron County in 2007.
