SYDNEY — One of Cape Breton’s busiest and bumpiest thoroughfares is getting a smoother surface.
The Cape Breton Post has learned that the province’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal will soon offer a contract to repair the Victoria Road viaduct that connects the sprawling Whitney Pier neighbourhood with the rest of Sydney.
But although sources say the winning bid has been selected, TIR communications advisor Deborah Bayer said in an email response that the tender has not yet been awarded but is expected to be announced in the near future.
A visit to the Nova Scotia government’s procurement website shows that at least four companies have expressed interest in the project with the bids ranging from $671,000 to $991,000. It should be noted that cost is just one of many factors taken into consideration before a tender is awarded.
The 700-metre overpass, comprised of a raised embankment and two bridges, was constructed about 60 years ago. It traverses the lands of the former Sydney steel plat, bisecting the west-side mills and blast furnaces from the east-side coke ovens.
However, time and weather has taken a toll on the piece of infrastructure perhaps best known as the “overpass." The surface is annually pockmarked by potholes, some dangerously deep, and the bridges’ expansion joints give even the smoothest of vehicles a jolt.
“I’ve called for it to be torn down, but I guess this will do for now,” said District 12 Councillor Jim MacLeod, whose area covers both sides of the overpass.
In fact, the longtime councillor, who started his political career some 40 years ago as a Sydney alderman, said it was gratifying to hear that the contentious issue of the physical condition of the aging overpass was finally being addressed.
“It’s a great way to end my career, to have things like the overpass repair accomplished and the road-to-nowhere finally to be opened — I’ve done my best,” said the 80-year-old MacLeod, who has already announced he is not seeking re-election in the Oct. 17 municipal election.
MacLeod would have preferred that the overpass was torn down and replaced, but TIR indicated in January that was not under consideration. At the time, the department stated that the connector’s two bridges, 257 metres and 44 metres respectively, have an expected lifespan of 75 years if regularly maintained and rehabilitated.
Prior to the construction of the viaduct in 1963, Victoria Road dipped under a train trestle before resurfacing in Whitney Pier, a neighbourhood now also accessed by Lingan Road at the SPAR junction.
