SDG Counties is facing an important decision that will have a direct impact on lives in South Dundas. On September 25, council will meet to determine if 17 minutes is worth $670,000 in savings. The Cass Bridge over the South Nation River on County Road 31 requires significant rehabilitation. It is a 36-week project that will cost an estimated $3.7 million. But, by closing the bridge to traffic, and putting in place a 17-minute detour SDG can save approximately $600,000 and shave eight weeks of time off the work.
South Dundas council discussed the implications of a 28-week closure of the Cass Bridge Monday night (September 22). All members of council discussed the impact on drivers, tourism, commuters, the agricultural community, and more. Emergency services were mentioned a few times, including a question about the cost of an additional ambulance in the area because of the detour; but overall the focus of South Dundas was on other sectors. When looking at potentially closing a vital road link to the community, emergency services—specifically land ambulance—is the only deciding factor for this issue.
County Road 31 is our lifeline to Winchester District Memorial Hospital. The Cass Bridge is a chokepoint on those routes. In responding to emergency calls, nearly all South Dundas land ambulance routes travel via this bridge. Transit times from Morrisburg to Winchester by ambulance are already significant, easily 20 minutes or more. Should the bridge be closed for a 28-week period, that travel time increases to 37 minutes. When one additional minute of travel time can mean the difference between life and death, what does 17 minutes mean?
This type of closure has happened before. In 2023, County Road 43 in Chesterville was closed for a similar bridge project. That closure worked well because it was already a bypass road and existing county roads in the village were used for the detour. According to council reports, only two minutes were added to travel times. Adding two minutes in that detour was a better outcome than the prospect of adding adding 17 minutes to next year’s Cass Bridge project.
There is an absolute need for municipalities to be responsible in budgeting projects. Councils have a duty to keep a mindful eye on those budgets to maximize savings while providing services. Balance is always needed, as is consideration for what is important. A 17-minute increase for land ambulance responses far outweighs inconvenience arguments for commuter, tourist, commercial, and agriculture concerns in a closure. SDG has already had problems with ambulance response times in the western half of the counties. Adding 17 minutes to them is potentially a death sentence for someone in need of critical care. In no budget is that worth $670,000!
Editor’s Note – At the September 25, 2025 SDG Counties Council special meeting, council supported the Cass Bridge project proceeding with a single lane/staged construction. See an update to this story here.
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