A request from the Niagara Region to use Caistor Gainsborough Townline Road as a temporary detour while stretches of Canborough Road are closed for bridge repair was shot down by Alderman Sue-Ellen Merritt.

At a Public Works meeting July 15, the Ward 1 representative said she strongly opposed the request, even as the Region is having difficulties with the current detour route.

Allowing truck traffic to travel the road - which currently prohibits heavy traffic - "would become a lifelong problem," Merritt warned.

According to Mike DiPaola, a Senior Transportation Project Engineer at the Region, many heavy trucks are using Rural Route 45 (Creek Road) as an alternate route between Wellandport and Canborough. That route contains a single lane bridge with a load restriction and poor sight lines.

He had requested that the road be used as a detour for northbound traffic until September.