Traffic lights installed at Freeport Bridge in Kitchener

Traffic lights have been installed on either side of Freeport Bridge in Kitchener.

The Region of Waterloo said they have been put up so snowplows can cross the bridge without any other traffic on the bridge at the same time.

"The signals will essentially be green all the time. When the snowplows come there to remove the snow, they'll have a pre-emption device in their truck that they can make the signal go red and then go on to the bridge, clear the snow off the bridge, and then allow the traffic operation to continue,” Mike Henderson, Director of Transportation for the Region of Waterloo said.

The region is currently assessing the nearly century old bridge to see if they should replace or repair it. In April, a weight restriction was put in place for heavy vehicles.

But with heavy snowplows set to be crossing through the winter, the region doesn't want the weight of other traffic on the bridge at the same time as the plows.

“It's merely a precautionary measure. These bridges are usually designed to take twice the load. But in our world, things can't fail,” Henderson said.

Traffic lights are seen at the end of Freeport Bridge in Kitchener on Dec. 19, 2024. (Sidra Jafri/CTV News)

Ambulances, Mobilityplus buses, pickup trucks and light-duty delivery trucks are still allowed on the bridge.

“This is the easiest way to really facilitate winter maintenance without having any compromises to the existing weight load restriction,” Henderson said.

According to Henderson, Freeport Bridge is the only crossing in the region where plows will have a device to control the lights.

The region will decide the next steps for the bridge in the new year.

“Next year we'll conclude the structural analysis [and] will figure out whether [we’re] going to do a rehab for this heritage bridge or whether we're going to actually completely reconstruct the bridge,” Henderson said.