The Vaughan covered bridge in the village of St. Martins is a picture-perfect spot that faces an uncertain future.
The 83-year-old bridge is now only open to pedestrians after being deemed unsafe for heavy vehicle traffic and a rally was held in late June to save the bridge.
We spoke to Maureen Boone of the Covered Bridge Conservation Association of N.B., which held the event.
“It’s the only place in the world that you can see two covered bridges at the same time, in the same picture,” Boone says.
“Although now they have the bailey bridge beside it so it’s kind of ruined the scenic view of it all.”
A temporary steel bridge has been installed near the covered bridge and DTI says no decision has been made about either bridge.
Mayor Bette Ann Chatteron wants to keep the Vaughan bridge but says if it has to go she wants a covered bridge in its place, she says there has to be a solution to this. She has this suggestion:
“I had made comment that if they could build a steel cement structure bridge, a two-lane bridge, and a walkway and cover it with wood,” says Chatteron.
“We need to make sure we have safe traffic, and we have good traffic coming through the village and we need to save our tourism so it’s sort of a three-pronged fork here that we have to work towards so it’s going to be a struggle, I’m sure.”
