CN delays reopening bridge to traffic: Railroader looks to Supreme Court of Canada to quash historic maintenance agreement.

• Date: 01 January 2019
• Author: Ross, Ian

The ball's in CN Rail's court as to whether it intends to fix and reopen a 109-yearold bridge to car and trucks between Thunder Bay and Fort William First Nation.

CN is awaiting word if the Supreme Court of Canada will hear its case over a century-old contractual obligation to maintain and keep open the St. James Bridge to vehicle traffic.

A Nov. 16 ruling from the Court of Appeal of Ontario dismissed CN's request to stay--or postpone --an earlier appeals court decision from last June ordering that the bridge be repaired and reopened to vehicles after the railway blocked access five years ago.

The bridge, which spans the Kaministiquia (Kam) River and directly connects the two communities, is a combined railway, vehicle and pedestrian structure.

CN declared the bridge off-limits to vehicles after vandals set the bridge on fire in October 2013. But within days, CN did repairs that allowed its freight trains to move across the span.

The lack of access has been a major headache for residents of both communities...