THUNDER BAY -- The city has received an offer from CN over the James Street Swing Bridge and the federal government is willing to mediate a solution.
City manager Tim Commisso said city council hasn't had a chance to review the offer, which will be discussed during the Jan. 19 meeting at the latest, as city solicitor Nadia Koltun needs to finish taking a look before making recommendations.
"Our issue there is the extent to which any proposed solution increases the liability on the city," Commisso said.
"We want to see a solution but the reality of it is if it's at the expense of having to take on additional liability and additional cost it's a challenge for us."
The federal government, through Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, has offered to mediate, something the city said it's open to.
Commisso said he hasn't heard from CN on the idea yet. That mediation would also include Fort William First Nation.
"We're always willing to sit down," Commisso said.
A previous offer would have seen trains and vehicles share the middle section of the bridge. That would include new traffic signals for the bridge, which has been closed to vehicles since a fire in October of 2013.
The city still wants to know why the two existing vehicle lanes can't be used. But it doesn't own the bridge, can't access it and hasn't seen CN's engineering reports.
Commisso said he thinks that the company is making what it believes to be a fair and reasonable offer but it all comes down to liability for the city.
