After 10 long weeks and a 22 kilometre detour, the road that links Moncton to the Hopewell Rocks and Fundy National Park is finally open again.
Route 114 became open to traffic Friday afternoon.
“I have a cottage in Fundy and I'm looking forward to making a quick trip down there to make sure everything is O.K. and to open it up for the summer,” says Lower Coverdale, N.B., resident Mary West.
The 20-minute detour was also rough on Jay Lee, who had traffic averted away from his grocery store and gas station.
“It was painful days for two and a half months, but now no more pain and I think about the bright side from now on,” Lee says.
On March 2, the new bridge was only a hole in the ground that the culvert washed away after a heavy rain. At that time, the Department of Transportation said its goal was to have Route 114 open by mid-May and the beginning of tourist season.
“We know how important the tourism sector is to our province and especially to this region,” says Bill Fraser, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
Fraser is now turning his attention to fixing up the detoured road that took a beating from the increase in car and truck traffic.
“There will be a lot more work happening this summer,’ Fraser says. “Our crews will continue to work on the detour route to bring it up to a better standard than it is now.”
The modular bridge will be in place for the foreseeable future. It will be one lane for the next few days, open to two lane traffic once the paving is complete next week.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Jonathan MacInnis.
