Five months of detours around the Mill Street bridge are finally a thing of the past because reconstruction of the bridge is complete and the roadway is paved.

The project involved replacing the entire bridge structure, relocating and replacing some water main and sanitary sewer lines and incorporating some communications cables into the bridge design and the reconstruction of the adjacent road to the bridge.

Orangeville Council had discussed replacing the Mill Street Bridge since 1985 because the former bridge (constructed in the 1920's) had been subject to load restrictions that kept increasing and the bridge's most recent restriction was a maximum of vehicle weight of five tonnes.

"It was getting dangerous," said Mayor Drew Brown during the official unveiling last Friday. "I am please this Council took action and it's finally finished."

On hand for the unveiling were Sylvia Jones representing MPP John Tory's office and MP David Tilson.

All three levels of government were partners in the project.

The provincial and federal each contributed $228,000 and the Town invested $990,000, with $52,000 coming from water and sewer rates.

"Through the Canada-Ontario Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund, Canada's new government is working with communities to ensure the continued safety and reliability of our roads and bridges," Mr. Tilson said. "Projects such as this one demonstrate how the federal government is investing in the strength of our communities."

Council approved the tender for the project in June that was $211,000 higher than anticipated, and it was only one of two tenders received. Owen King Limited of Walkerton bid $938,533,76.

The only other tender received was from a company in Milton, HugoMark Services Inc. at $2,613,299.52.

The entire project was predicted at $1.75 million.

Work began in mid-July and it was expected to be finished by September 15. The completion date was imposed because of cold water fishery time restraints in Mill Creek.

By August, the project was under way but already behind schedule. It was expected by that time to be finished by the middle of October.

The bridge was finally complete and the road paved late in the day Friday (after the ceremony) and opened to traffic on Saturday.