“AT THE end of the day, I will be building what the government wants me to build,” Roads and Maritime Services’ Mike Veysey said at a Windsor Business Group breakfast meeting about the new Windsor Bridge on Monday.
This comment from the RMS network services director caused some tension amongst attendees at the meeting at Trentino’s Restaurant.
Residents of the Hawkes-bury were joined by local MPs Bart Bassett and Kevin Conolly, councillors, and the RMS.
The RMS has investigated repairing and restoring the bridge, but came to the conclusion the repairs of the bridge would only add a few years to its functional life.
Mr Veysey said the RMS has designed a new bridge that meets 21st century standards and caters to all road users.
Local businessman Dail Miller said the bridge was a “very important issue for the Hawkesbury”, but believed that the RMS plans were “not going to solve our problem”.
“We all want the same thing for the town and that is for the town to grow,” he said. “With this, there is no Windsor going forward.”
Former councillor Ted Books agreed, as he also believed “if you take this bridge away...people won’t come back to Windsor”.
“Traffic isn’t good for a town like Windsor...the traffic is actually strangling the town...only a by-pass will save Windsor,” Windsor businessman Peter Reynolds said.
Riverstone MP Kevin Conolly said what was wanted was what was best for Windsor.
“If I had an option that fixed the bridge...the flooding ...then we would do it,” Mr Conolly said.
Mr Veysey said that the bridge was the responsibility of the RMS and needed to be replaced.
“We will be proceeding with the preferred option,’ he said.
Next Sunday, July 29, the Community Action for Windsor Bridge (CAWB) will open a shop front office at Thompson Square, Windsor. Celebrations will start at noon on Sunday.
