New Pattullo Bridge on schedule to open in 2024

March 2023 construction progress on the new replacement Pattullo Bridge. (Government of BC)

The new crossing to replace the existing 1937-built Pattullo Bridge will be ready for operations sometime next year.

In a press conference today relating to TransLink, BC Transportation Infrastructure Minister Rob Fleming provided an update on the ongoing construction project to build a new Pattullo Bridge.

He said the new bridge is scheduled to open in 2024 and it remains within its $1.4 billion budget.

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As of this month, construction on the bridge has progressed to the in-river towers’ crossbeam to support the bridge deck. Currently, 13 of the 33 segments of the main in-river towers have been completed, with both towers set to reach an ultimate height of 167 metres (about 548 ft). Work is also well underway on the bridge structures on land.

Fleming said the project’s construction start was directly delayed by the pandemic. Construction on the bridge was previously slated to begin in 2020, but major activities did not commence until Spring 2021.

March 2023 construction progress on the new replacement Pattullo Bridge. (Government of BC)

Over the years, the Surrey Board of Trade has repeatedly called on the provincial government to build a wider bridge with six vehicle lanes — three vehicle lanes in each direction — right from the get-go.

When asked by media today on the rationale of building a one-for-one vehicle lane replacement, a new bridge with four vehicle lanes or two lanes in each direction, Fleming reiterated the provincial government’s position, suggesting the improved four-lane standard for the replacement bridge will be a sufficient improvement.

He said the new replacement bridge will have wider vehicle lanes than the unsafe narrow standard of the existing bridge, along with a concrete barrier separating both traffic directions.

On the Surrey side, there will also be a free-flowing off-ramp between the new bridge’s southbound direction and Highway 17’s (South Fraser Perimeter Road) westbound direction, which is a seamless connection that does not currently exist.

Although the bridge will be built to a standard of four vehicle lanes, it is designed in a way to be expandable to six vehicle lanes by narrowing the four vehicle lanes, turning the bridge deck space for pedestrians and cyclists into additional vehicle lanes, and installing a cantilevered structure along the sides of the bridge for replacement pedestrian and cyclist pathways.

Artistic rendering of the new replacement Pattullo Bridge looking towards the Surrey end. (Government of BC)

Artistic rendering of the new replacement Pattullo Bridge looking towards the New Westminster end. (Government of BC)

Artistic rendering of the new Pattullo Bridge. (TransLink)

During the early planning process for the replacement crossing about a decade ago, the City of New Westminster expressed strong opposition to the idea of a wider bridge with six vehicle lanes due to their concerns about increased traffic through their streets.

According to the provincial government, the existing Pattullo Bridge sees about 77,000 vehicles per day and experiences the highest rate of growth in truck volume of all major river crossings in the Lower Mainland. Fleming says when the tolls on the nearby Port Mann Bridge were removed in 2017, the existing bridge saw some capacity relief, as traffic that had previously shifted to the nearest free crossing returned to Highway 1’s larger bridge.

The existing bridge has been deemed to be extremely unsafe not only for its road deck design but also for its poor structural condition, with the identified risk of collapsing in a moderately powerful earthquake or high wind storm.

Due to the severity of the concerns, even though the existing bridge would remain in place for just a few more years, TransLink in 2020 installed an advance seismic and wind warning system that will provide alerts of up to one minute before damaging ground waves reach the bridge. This includes traffic control gates to stop vehicles from driving onto the bridge deck ahead of an earthquake’s shaking or during a powerful wind event.

In 2018, the provincial government took over the Pattullo Bridge’s replacement project from TransLink to better allow the public transit authority to focus on public transit expansion and improvements. Upon the completion of the new bridge, construction crews will quickly turn their attention to dismantling the existing bridge.

Acciona Infrastructure Canada and Aecon Group Inc. are the main contractors for the bridge construction project. Acciona is also the main contractor for SkyTrain’s Millennium Line Broadway Extension and BC Hydro’s Site C hydroelectric dam.

pattullo bridge seismic wind advance warning

Seismic and wind advance warning system on the Pattullo Bridge. (TransLink)

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