Bay Island Bridge Study and Design

in progress

The Community Government of Behchoko has a single-lane bridge that connects the 300+ residents and businesses on Bay Island to the balance of the community. As the population of the Community Government of Behchoko continues to grow, there is increased pressure on the bottleneck of the single lane bridge that accesses Bay Island. There are almost 60+ buildings on the island and vehicles must take turns to access the bridge. While this is an inconvenience at the best of times, it has proving to be a safety and security issue in emergencies. With RCMP, fire hall and ambulance services less than a kilometre away from Bay Island, there have been many times when the RCMP, the fire department, and/or the ambulance needed to access Bay Island when the single-lane bridge had heavy traffic due to people trying to evacuate the island. This grant application would facilitate the design study for the replacement of the single-lane bridge with a two-lane bridge and a traffic light on the island side of the bridge. This application is in support of the detailed study including the design, pre-enginnering work, and construction cost estimate to replace the single-lane bridge with a two-lane bridge and traffic control system.