Maple Avenue Bridge in Sussex, N.B., closed due to ‘deteriorated condition’

A bridge near the Town of Sussex has been closed due to deteriorating condition.

A bridge on a main route in and out of Sussex, N.B., is closed until further notice due to its “deteriorated condition.”

The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure says the decision to close the Trout Creek #1 Bridge, also known as the Maple Avenue Bridge, was made Tuesday.

“Barricades are now in place, and a detour plan with associated signage is still being prepared,” said Jacob MacDonald, a spokesperson for the department, in a statement to CTV News Atlantic.

“This bridge was already being evaluated by the department for future rehabilitation or replacement options, and this closure will require another assessment of its timeline.”

There is no word on when it will reopen.

The bridge runs through the heart of a residential neighbourhood and is located next to the downtown area.

Locals like Evelyn Sparks say the closure is a major inconvenience.

“I go across the bridge a lot, but now I have to go up around the highway to get to town, any of the grocery stores down the lower end, and if I want to go to the upper part of town then I have to go up and across the tracks,” said Sparks, who lives near the bridge.

Steve Whitters has lived in Sussex all his life. He says a lot of people in the area go down Maple Avenue over the bridge to get to the downtown area or the hospital.

“That bridge has been there the whole time I’ve been alive and I’ll be 61 years old in April,” he said. “Time and weather and all that stuff has taken its toll on it, I know that.”

MacDonald added that emergency vehicles have already been using an alternate route since March 2025, when the bridge was restricted to three tonnes.

With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Derek Haggett

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