The new bridge over the Petitcodiac River connecting Moncton and Riverview is now open following a ribbon-cutting ceremony that drew a large crowd of protestors.
Representatives from the Town of Riverview, the City of Moncton and the Government of New Brunswick were on hand to celebrate the opening of the bridge.
“You know we have for many, many years turned our backs on our beautiful river and no more,” said Dawn Arnold, the Mayor of Moncton.
The causeway was closed on April 5 to realign the river channel and decommission the gate structure.
In the months leading up to the closure, citizens became increasingly concerned about the possible changes to their commute time. It was estimated an additional 25,000 people would cross over the Gunningsville Bridge every day due to the closure.
“We had a lot of concerns going into it, in particular, our residents did, just with regards to the impact on traffic congestion,” said Andrew LeBlanc, the Mayor of Riverview.
“Things didn’t end up being as bad as we had anticipated, and so all is well, and it got us to this day.”
In the midst of LeBlanc’s address to the public, about 100 protestors marched up the bridge, with chants that roared over the sound of the speaker.
The crowd chanted “Freedom” followed by “No vax pass”.
After an attempt to continue with the ceremony, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Jill Green elected not to speak. Instead, dignitaries moved on to the ribbon-cutting portion of the ceremony.
It’s believed the crowd gathered due to false rumours that Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau would be in attendance.
