Cyclists and pedestrians heading to this weekend’s Butter Tart Festival in Midland could be in for a rough ride passing through neighbouring Tay Township to the east.
The demolition of Old Fort Overhead Bridge originally scheduled for last week was moved to the week of June 5 to 12 by order of the County of Simcoe who is in control of county road repairs along Old Fort Road.
Originally built in 1978, the deteriorated bridge crossed over the former CN Railway track that has since been converted to the Trans Canada Trail, known as the Tay Shore Trail at that location.
As the bridge does not meet current standards for county roads, a wider replacement will be constructed with lower vertical clearance as trains are no longer a consideration.
While vehicle traffic has been provided a detour route around the construction – along Elliott Sideroad to Rumney Road to Highway 12 – the Tay Shore Trail for cyclists and pedestrians was closed off with signs posted at either end of the affected area.
Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival is North Simcoe’s largest tourist attraction, with more than 60,000 people expected to visit Midland this weekend. Cyclists using the Trans Canada Trail were listed on the festival website as being offered a bike valet system through Cycle Simcoe.
Various shuttles will be available around the event for visitors to park safely, with one such location at 1000 Wye Valley Rd. on Highway 12, a short distance from the trail closure on the road leading to the Wye Marsh and Sainte-Marie among the Hurons.
Tay Township instructs those wanting further information or details on the Old Fort Overhead Bridge to visit the County of Simcoe website.
