Journal Staff
Two-way traffic on Indian Road at the Highway 402 overpass has resumed this week, much to the relief of drivers.
The southbound lanes had been closed since Nov. 23, when a transport truck carrying a high load slammed into the overpass.
The Ontario Transportation Ministry removed the west half of the bridge to make highway travel safe again, but permanent overpass repairs aren’t expected until May or June.
City and county staff devised a temporary bypass by removing traffic islands and repainting lines to get cars moving in each way on what were the two northbound lanes.
Indian is a major overpass over Highway 402, which divides north from south Sarnia.
Police, fire and paramedic officials were concerned the bottleneck could delay response times in an emergency, as well as create problems for snow removal this winter, said Mike Berkvens of the city’s engineering department.
“It just makes sense. And it’s better for the community too to have two-way traffic … It is still limited with one lane in each direction, but it’s fully open once you get to Exmouth.”
Lambton County, which is responsible for Indian Road, extended the contract of Cope Construction to complete the bypass. The company recently repaired London Road and Indian north.
Lambton intends to recoup the extra cost from the parties responsible for the accident and the damage to the overpass.