St. Catharines' J.R. Stork Bridge replacement work starts Monday

Replacement work on St. Catharines' 60-year-old J.R. Stork Bridge begins Monday. The project aims to improve traffic flow and will add widened sidewalks and bike lanes.  The project was initially supposed to take a full year but now the region says it'll only take about six months and is anticipated to be completed by the end of the year. “The bridge is approaching the end of its useful service life. We do a bridge inspection of all our bridges every two years and this one was identified a couple bridge inspections back that it needed either a major rehab or a bridge replacement,” Associate Director of Transportation Engineering Graeme Guthrie says. Martindale Road will be completely closed to traffic between Main Street and South Service Road for the duration of the bridge replacement.  The section from Courtland Street to Dalemere Boulevard is fully closed to both vehicles and pedestrians. Local access to Courtland Street remains open through South Service Road, while Dalemere Boulevard can be accessed from Main Street.  “As a local resident who lives down the street, I’m back and forth along this stretch on almost a daily basis. It’s going to cause some disruption while people get used to the detours and everything else,” St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe says. “To go from 12 months to 6 months is a pretty big deal. The region of Rankin was able to shorten the bridge replacement over on St. Paul West by a year or so. Seeing them come together and figuring out how to make this work, it’s awesome to see a great corporate citizen who does good work in our community,” Siscoe says. A watermain replacement underneath the bridge will also be taking place simultaneously.  “While we recognize a project of this size and scale can impact residents, we have a traffic management plan in place to ensure motorists can navigate this area as best as possible as crews work hard to improve and modernize infrastructure for the community,” Director of Transportation Frank Tassone says. READ MORE: No one injured after b