gates were opened permanently as part of a $68 million three-phase project designed to restore the river. The causeway was replaced with a bridge, completed in September 2021. Etymology A popular belief suggests that the name derives from the French term "petit coude", meaning "little elbow". In fact, the name derives from an indigenous word, probably Maliseet or, possibly Mi'kmaq. According to Maliseet Elder and linguist Dr. Peter Paul of Woodstock Reserve, the name refers to a wall of water rushing in: "now they call that petakuyak. [It] means 'sound of thunder,' well, the rush of water coming in like a thunderstorm." If the term has a Mi'kmaq origin, it could have been derived from the word Petkootkweăk, meaning "the river that bends like a bow", a reference to the right angle bend near Moncton. Acadians transformed this to Petcoudiac or Petitcoudiac, which was modified to Petitcodiac by British settlers. The river's heavy sedimentation led to the nickname "Chocolate River", due to the resulting brown tint. When the Petitcodiac River Causeway was built, an additional of this sediment began to accumulate in the 4.7 km (2.9 mi) of river downstream from it. Geography Course The river measures about from its source near Petitcodiac to its mouth at Shepody Bay; its source derives from the confluence of the Anagance and North rivers in western Westmorland County. The Anagance River arises from its tributaries, Hayward Brook and Holmes Brook, and drains from the south-east of the Petitcodiac River, while the North River drains from the north. From the confluence, the river passes under the bridge on Route 106 in Petitcodiac, The road then follows the river to Moncton on the left side of the river. Route 1 crosses the river a few kilometres downstream to join Trans-Canada Highway 2. The community of River Glade precedes Petitcodiac River's right tributary, Pollett River, with a watershed of . As the waterway runs past Salisbury, its final major right tributary, Little River (formerly known as Coverdale River), joins it. Little River's watershed is . The river passes Coverdale and is joined by Turtle Creek before widening as it approaches Moncton. The causeway, built in 1968, formed a wall blocking all but of water as the river flowed downstream toward the Gunningsville Bridge. Before the causeway's construction, the river's area would expand through Moncton, attaining a width of 1.6 km (one mile). A series of banks