Road/Bridge Closures: Be Here Now! > The Happy Monk Baking Company

The one-lane South Pender bridge will be closed for three weeks.

The Canal Bridge to South Pender will be undergoing deck repair starting next week, May 16 through June 4, 2022. That means the bridge will be closed intermittently for three weeks.

This may affect our Happy Monk bread deliveries to North Pender Island.

We’ve been trying to get more specific information. No one appears to know what the closures mean for “commuters” between the north and south islands.

Where is the “Schedule to Follow?”

There is no mention of the Canal Bridge construction on the DriveBC.ca website, and authorities reached by phone have no clear answers. One week before the closures start! Signs announcing the bridgework say “Schedule to follow,” but nothing has been announced.

From what we’ve been told, the bridge will be closed between 8 am and 4 pm on workdays. The bridge will be open for short periods during the day to coincide with outgoing Swartz Bay ferry departures.

If that is the case, we’d hope to make it across the bridge around the time for the 12:25 ferry sailing to Swartz Bay. That might mean we’d be at the usual pick-up locations at regular times!

Will we have to wait for hours?

Returning from North Pender after deliveries is also a concern, as nothing has been mentioned regarding bridge openings to accommodate incoming ferry traffic. Suppose we manage to get across the bridge for our usual noon-hour deliveries. Will we have to wait on North Pender until after the bridge re-opens at four?

Or maybe not!

If there is heavy traffic waiting for a ferry crossing, some cars may not make it through in time for the bridge opening. There is also an ongoing restricted traffic flow through the area known as “The Dip.” “One car per green light,” if you’re following the rules.

And what if ferries are delayed, as they have done over the past several weeks?

Breathe! Be here now.

There will at least be Happy Monk deliveries this week on Friday, May 13. For certain! But we’re unsure what the schedule will look like next week through Saturday, June 4. (The next bread day after June 4 is Friday, June 10, 2022).

If we learn of anything in the coming days, we’ll use this email list to let everyone know, especially as it relates to bread days.

So amidst all this uncertainty, let’s remember to keep breathing and heed the advice of Baba Ram Dass: “Be here now.” Breathe and enjoy the spring sun, the birdsong, and the beauty of Pender Island.

Postscript

South Pender resident Rob Wilman suggested a brilliant solutiuon to the bread delivery problem. If we can’t cross the Canal Bridge, what about a Trebuchet? That’s a medieval catapult that would fling projectiles, or flaming vats of oil at a distant castle. A Seige Engine. You get the idea. See below for a demonstration.

If it works for Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman, surely a few loaves of the Seed Feast would go, too!

happymonkbaking

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Happy Monk Instagram Feed

Where is the “Schedule to Follow?”

Will we have to wait for hours?

Breathe! Be here now.

happymonkbaking

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