CORNWALL – An important commuter corridor for North and South Dundas will remain open during construction in 2026. SDG Counties council held a special meeting today (September 25) to decide if the proposed full closure of the Cass Bridge on County Road 31 would proceed, or if a single-lane closure of the bridge during rehabilitation would take place.
SDG Counties’ Transportation Department presented three options: a) Close the Cass Bridge for approximately 28 weeks in 2026, detouring traffic via several nearby county roads; b) Delay the project for one year for public consultation and close the bridge in 2027; or c) Proceed with the project in 2026 with a single-lane closure of the bridge for construction, avoiding detours.
Closing the bridge to all traffic was estimated to save SDG $671,000 on the project, but would result in a 17-minute detour for traffic. CR 31 is a primary commuter route to Ottawa and land-ambulance route from South Dundas to Winchester District Memorial Hospital.
The hour-long meeting, fraught with technical difficulties as it was held on Zoom, saw councillors discuss the issues with traffic, emergency services, and projected costs if the project was delayed.
Councillor Jason Broad and Councillor Marc St. Pierre (South Dundas), and Councillor Tony Fraser (North Dundas) supported keeping the bridge open to traffic. Four of the 12 councillors appeared to support delaying the project for public consultation.
Following some discussion about what questions should be answered, Warden Martin Lang asked who supported keeping the bridge open to traffic, and nine of the 12 councillors supported the measure.
“Council is supportive of North and South Dundas in keeping a lane open,” Lang remarked. “I think the township that know the best have spoken, and we are supporting them.”
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