Pattullo Bridge lanes to fully reopen by Monday

A temporary fix to rehabilitate the bridge deck of the Pattullo Bridge has been completed one month ahead of schedule, allowing the bridge to reopen in time for the start of next week’s work week.

TransLink says all four lanes on the 79-year-old bridge spanning across the Fraser River, from New Westminster to Surrey, will reopen on Monday, August 29. However, during the overnight hours, the bridge will only have one lane open in each direction for safety reasons.

The $10-million project began in May 2016 and consisted of repairing and replacing elements of the bridge deck.

Since construction began, only two lanes remained open on the bridge and there were full closures overnight and during weekends. However, there will be two more full closures until next week’s reopening: from 8 pm on Thursday, August 25 to 5 am on Friday, August 26 and all of this weekend from 8 pm on Friday, August 26 to 5 am on Monday, August 29.

The planned full closure of the bridge from September 30 to October 1 has been canceled.

There were originally plans to conduct a $100-million full seismic refit of the aging structure, but those plans were abandoned given that a new bridge is scheduled to take its place by 2023. The old crossing will be demolished upon the completion of the new bridge.

Planning and public consultations on the replacement crossing are already well underway.