John’s Bridge past marked by debate, repairs, closures Span has been focus of accessibility spats

The Allagash River bridge where 14 Latin American forest workers lost their lives this week has long been the subject of contention.

In the 40 years since it was built, the privately owned one-lane John’s Bridge has periodically been closed to public traffic out of concern that logging trucks would get into accidents with the smaller vehicles driven by canoeists and fishermen.

Near the southern end of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, the 200-foot-long bridge has also been a symbolic focal point in the debate over whether to make the 92-mile river more accessible.

The bridge and timberland in the vicinity are owned by Pingree Associates and managed by Seven Islands Land Co. of Bangor.

Originally built in 1960 as part of a harvesting operation, it was called Poulin’s Bridge after a local family. It was used only in the winter.

After deteriorating until it became impassable for two years, the bridge was rebuilt in 1967 and renamed John’s Bridge. The name is believed to come from a corruption of the French name, Jean, one of the Poulin sons.

The bridge has been repaired several times since, with major reconstruction undertaken in 1985. The span, which crosses the narrow waterway between Eagle and Churchill lakes, is made of wooden planks. Large timbers, no more than knee-high, line its sides.

Later that year, a survey conducted by the University of Maine found that waterway users felt access to the Allagash had become too easy.

In 1987, rules were put into place to prohibit vehicular access to the waterway at John’s Bridge for fear people parking on the bridge would be hit by the large log trucks. People continued to park near the bridge and use it as a launch site. Enforcement was spotty

When it developed a new management plan for the waterway in 1999, the Bureau of Parks and Lands proposed the bridge remain closed. The commissioner of the Department of Conservation, however, ruled the bridge should be open. The department then submitted a plan to the Land Use Regulation Commission to build a parking lot and trail to the river nearby.

The plan to allow people to carry canoes to the water next to the bridge was challenged in court by the Natural Resources Council of Maine. After losing in Superior Court, the environmental group appealed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

The legal proceedings were put on hold while the state negotiated a memorandum of agreement with the National Park Service to rectify violations of federal law at another spot on the waterway. The park service found the state had not obtained the necessary federal permit to rebuild Churchill Dam, farther up the waterway. To remedy the situation, the John’s Bridge launch site had to be moved farther from the river, among other changes in the waterway.

At the instigation of state conservation groups, park service personnel were to visit the Allagash this summer to see whether there are too many access points along the waterway. John’s Bridge was to be one of their stops. The trip was postponed while the state continues to negotiate with the park service.