A proposed causeway - to potentially be built sometime between 2024 and 2026 - could replace Forks Road Bridge in Dain City.

That's if the City of Welland is successful in obtaining funding from a federal/provincial infrastructure program, says a staff report.

The report, to be received for information at a special council meeting Tuesday, says the funding will be sought from the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, Rural and Northern Communities program.

The program will see $11.8 billion doled out under four streams - public transit, green infrastructure, community, culture and recreation, and rural and northern communities.

Staff recommend the city apply under the rural and northern communities stream, which is to support more reliable roads, bridges, air and marine assets and is open to any municipality in Ontario with a population of 100,000 people or less.

The maximum total eligible cost per project is $5 million of which the city would be responsible for $835,000, about 16.7 per cent of the total cost.

When the city closed the bridge in late 2018, it said a new structure could cost between $13 million and $18 million. Staff had also estimated demolition of the bridge, testing its piers and coming up with a new bridge design to be about $4 million.

The actual cost for demolition alone, being carried out now by Schouten Excavating Inc., is just more than $1.1 million. The centre span of the structure was taken down and floated to Port Colborne last week.

A staff report says preliminary options under consideration may include but are not limited to a new causeway - a roadway supported mostly by earth or stone - at the Forks Road location, and a new causeway at another location.

"The timeline for the funding will allow staff time to complete the required environment assessments (EA), which is anticipated to take approximately three years, or more, to complete. The EA will look at several options and locations for the canal crossing and select the most desirable option, based on various criteria and stakeholder input. Once the EA process is complete, detailed design will begin on the optimal solution," the report says.

It says once all approvals are in place and the design is complete, construction will begin on a new crossing in approximately 2024, leaving sufficient time to complete construction before the Dec. 31, 2026 funding deadline.

It says if the preferred alternative recommended by the environmental assessment suggests costs in excess of the funding cap, the city will be responsible for 100 per cent of the project.

"In all cases, staff will report back to council with a comprehensive update before proceeding."

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Tuesday's council meeting starts at 7 p.m.

- Causeway in Dain City not an option for residents