City of Merritt receives $10 million to rebuild flood-damaged Middlesboro Bridge

MERRITT, B.C. — A link connecting downtown Merritt to Collettville will be rebuilt to a higher standard.

The B.C. government announced Monday (June 26) that it will give $10 million to the City of Merritt toward the reconstruction of the Middlesboro Bridge which partially collapsed during the flooding of November 2021. The province states the bridge will be more resilient to future flooding and be safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

The Middlesboro Bridge’s new span will be approximately 1.5 metres higher than the original and built to withstand a one-in-200-year flood event. The province says it will increase the water volume by 65 per cent compared to the original bridge and is proposed to accommodate two lanes of vehicle traffic and one lane dedicated to pedestrians and cyclists. The original bridge had an undersized walkway and no cycling lane or shoulder.

“Recovering from a natural disaster is a long process of damage assessments, funding applications, design development and requests for proposals long before any construction can commence,” Merritt Mayor Mike Goetz says. “While the city has been able to make a number of major repairs, seeing the scar of the missing Middlesboro Bridge has been a painful daily reminder of that harrowing event. I’d like to thank the province for providing the funding to repair this important transportation link, which will not only ease transportation routes for our residents, but also revive our commercial corridors.”

Construction is expected to begin in summer 2024 and be complete in early 2025.