There could be fewer pleasure boats on the Bras d'Or Lake this summer.
That's because a lift bridge that provides a shortcut to the lake isn't working. The Lennox Passage Bridge has been on the province's list for repairs since 2012, leaving the area's MLA frustrated.
"We're at a critical moment," said Alana Paon, the PC member for Cape Breton-Richmond. "We have a bridge that's inoperable, and that's just, to be perfectly blunt about it ... really irresponsible."
Lennox Passage provides a calm, sheltered waterway for boats heading to the lake via the St. Peter's Canal.
The province's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal said the bridge opens about 100 times a season to allow boats to pass.
Problems first surfaced with the lift several years ago. On hot days, the metal bridge would expand to the point it couldn't close properly.
Cruising Cape Breton, a website for pleasure boaters, cautioned boaters in July, 2014 that the bridge might not operate when temperatures exceeded 25 C to avoid being stuck open.
Paon said the bridge has now deteriorated to the point where the lift has been fused shut, and it needs about $2 million worth of repairs.
The bridge also provides the only motor vehicle access to and from Isle Madame. The speed limit on the bridge was reduced to 20 kilometres per hour for several months this year, to avoid further damage to the structure, but was recently returned to 80 km/h.
The province says there is no danger to motorists, but that boaters will not be able to pass through until repairs have been completed. It expects to issue a tender this summer.
Local yacht clubs expect area businesses to suffer.
"It's going to have a fair amount of impact financially, not just for us but for the other businesses on the island," said Teddy Poirier, the commodore of the Lennox Passage Yacht Club in D'Escousse. "We got restaurants, we got small stores that benefit from the transient boaters coming through."
Poirier said boaters can choose to take the longer route to the lake around Isle Madame. But he said that can add many hours and has the potential to be a much rougher journey.
"It's open right to the Atlantic, the next place you're looking at is England," he said. "You can get quite a breeze up there."
Poirier said he's also frustrated that he only found out about the bridge closure a couple of weeks ago, through Paon. He said he'd already told a number of boaters, including some from the U.S., that it would be open.
Paon said she worries the repairs could be postponed once again.
"It's been bumped down the list before," she said. "And there's no guarantee still that it will be done this year."