Now and in the future, the Municipality of Gray Highlands faces large expenses to improve and replace bridges along the highway network.

At its Nov. 6 meeting, Gray Highlands Council received its bridge inspection report from engineering firm RJ Burnside and Associates. The report included information on biennial inspections of 35 of the 70 bridge structures in Gray Highlands, which is southwest of Collingwood.

The conclusions? It takes a lot of money in the short and long term to repair and replace bridges.

The report predicts that over the next 10 years Gray Highlands will have to spend approximately $20.4 million on bridge repairs and replacements. It also identified four bridge structures/systems with immediate replacement needs over the next year at an estimated cost of more than $3.5 million.

“We’re going to be making some tough decisions shortly,” Coun said. Dan Wickens. “We’re going to have to close some bridges or win the lottery.”

The 119-page report contained a lot of information about the township’s bridge system, and Mayor Paul McQueen suggested the report should be sent to a committee of the entire meeting for a deeper conversation at the council table.

“There’s a lot of data there,” he said. “This is one of those topics that we should spend more than five minutes on. “If this is a tsunami coming our way, we better get it right.”

Other members agreed that a three-hour committee of the entire meeting would offer the opportunity to further develop the report.

“This is going to involve a number of significant expenses in the future,” Coun said. Joel Loughead. “It would be three hours well spent.”

Other councilors wondered if it was time for the municipality to consider new policies on how bridges are replaced or other options to fund such costs.

Count. Nadia Dubyk pointed out that a system of bridges four structures on frontage road 7A was in critical need of replacement. At this time, those bridges are low-traffic structures. However, they are close to the Talisman property, where large developments have been proposed.

He questioned whether developers should help with bridging costs where they can receive the benefit.

“Do we have alternatives to traditional ways of building bridges?” Dubyk said.

Chris Cornfield, director of transportation and public spaces, explained that during the engineering process for bridge replacement/repair, the municipality looks for alternative possibilities for the structure, such as box culverts or other options.

After discussion, the council voted to receive the report and send it to a future committee of the entire meeting for further discussion.