One last crossing: Thousands take once-in-a-lifetime walk on old Pattullo Bridge | Daily Hive

One last crossing: Thousands take a once-in-a-lifetime walk on the old Pattullo Bridge in farewell before demolition

Feb. 15, 2026 walk on the old Pattullo Bridge. (Kenneth Chan)

Thousands of people each day over the Family Day long weekend walked across the old Pattullo Bridge, bidding farewell to the 88-year-old crossing over the Fraser River between New Westminster and Surrey.

As reported by Daily Hive Urbanized last week, the public was given a once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience the bridge in a car-free setting. Crowds were relatively light on Saturday, swelled on Sunday, and even larger numbers turned out this Family Day, Monday — until the weather turned foul later in the day.

Just before 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 16, TransLink announced that, due to weather conditions and to ensure public safety, the Pattullo Bridge had been permanently closed early to pedestrians and cyclists, bringing the crossing’s transportation use to a complete end. The bridge had originally been slated to close on the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 17, in preparation for the start of the structure’s demolition.

You might also like:

Both the old bridge and the new stal̕əw̓asəm Bridge (Riverview Bridge) underwent a full week-long closure earlier this month to enable crews to complete the road connections, enabling all four lanes of the new bridge to fully open to vehicle traffic for the very first time starting on Saturday morning. As of early this month, the old bridge saw its last vehicle traffic volumes ever.

Time-lapse of my walk across the old Pattullo Bridge on Sunday.

Thousands turned out to see the Great Depression-era structure. Rivets, beams, and joints revealed the craftsmanship of another era. #bcpoli #vanpoli #vanre 2/10https://t.co/ntSZhBGi6b pic.twitter.com/qpRthPTLnN

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) February 17, 2026

Time-lapse of the crowds on Pattullo Bridge on Monday, with a big turnout for the final walk during varying weather conditions throughout the day.

Weather and safety concerns forced an early permanent closure Monday evening. #bcpoli #vanpoli #vanre 3/10https://t.co/ntSZhBGi6b pic.twitter.com/cJcJpxTYgw

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) February 17, 2026

stal̕əw̓asəm riverview pattullo bridge walk feb 15 2026

Feb. 15, 2026 walk on the old Pattullo Bridge. (Kenneth Chan)

Many people, including families, filled the bridge deck, stopping to take photos and videos or simply to take in sweeping views of the region and the Fraser River below. Some children drew on the roadway with chalk, while others brought folding lounge chairs, settling in to enjoy the scenery for an extended stay.

For many walkers, the slow, car-free crossing offered a rare close-up look at the arch bridge’s age and state of deterioration. Patches of rust were visible along the steel framework, and the paint in some areas had faded or peeled, exposing the weathered metal beneath. Up close, the wear and tear told the story of a structure that has spent nearly nine decades battling rain, wind, and constant vehicle traffic.

Corrosion and worn surfaces were easy to spot for pedestrians who normally only glimpse the bridge at driving speed.

For many, the car-free walk offered a rare close-up look at the Pattullo Bridge's age and state of deterioration.

Corrosion and worn surfaces were easy to spot for most who normally only glimpse the bridge at driving speed. #bcpoli #vanpoli #vanre 4/10https://t.co/ntSZhBGi6b pic.twitter.com/ejDhtJddMN

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) February 17, 2026

Feb. 15, 2026 walk on the old Pattullo Bridge. (Kenneth Chan)

At both ends of the bridge, passersby could also see the advanced seismic and high-wind warning and closure system installed by TransLink in 2020. The investment was made even though a replacement bridge project had already been approved and construction was expected to begin soon at the time — an indicator of the high risk posed by the structure.. Detailed technical analysis had found the aging structure to be highly vulnerable to catastrophic failure in the event of a moderate earthquake, high winds, or a ship strike to its exposed piers in the Fraser River.

In an event of imminent danger over the last few remaining years of the bridge, the system’s LED warning signs were designed to light up to signal an immediate closure, and control gates would drop to prevent more vehicles from entering the span. The system highlighted both the risks posed by the nearly century-old bridge and the urgency behind replacement by the middle of the 2020s.

View of the emergency bridge closure system due to seismic/high wind events; Feb. 15, 2026 walk on the old Pattullo Bridge. (Kenneth Chan)

Completed in 1937 during the Great Depression, the Pattullo Bridge has carried generations of commuters across the Fraser River, and its condition shows the weight of that history. Rivets, beams, and joints revealed the craftsmanship of another era, but also the limits of a design never meant to serve modern traffic volumes for so long. Back then, the vehicles were also far smaller.

When the four-lane bridge first opened, the entire Metro Vancouver region had a population of just under 400,000 residents, with under 15,000 living in Surrey. Today, the region is home to over 3.1 million residents, including over 700,000 in Surrey. By 2046, according to the provincial government’s forecasts, the region’s population could reach 3.9 million residents, with Surrey accounting for almost one million.

For that reason alone, some have questioned the provincial government’s rationale of building a one-for-one, four-lane replacement, instead of a wider six-lane bridge from the get-go. The new stal̕əw̓asəm Bridge is four lanes, but it is designed to enable a future widening to six lanes by narrowing the width of its existing four lanes and repurposing the space of the walking and cycling pathways, with new replacement active transportation pathways achieved by adding a cantilevered widening of the bridge deck.

The City of Surrey and local businesses South of the Fraser urged for a six-lane replacement, but ultimately the provincial government sided with the concerns of the City of New Westminster, which did not want to see more regional arterial vehicle traffic going through its jurisdiction.

View of the new stal̕əw̓asəm/Riverview Bridge; Feb. 15, 2026 walk on the old Pattullo Bridge. (Kenneth Chan)

Feb. 15, 2026 walk on the old Pattullo Bridge. (Kenneth Chan)

While a new four-lane bridge replaced a four-lane bridge, there are other traffic and connectivity improvements, such as the wider lanes enabling higher driving speeds and safer clearances with freight trucks, a concrete divider separating both traffic directions to prevent the type of deadly head-on collisions experienced on the old bridge, the net gain of an off-ramp from the new bridge’s southbound direction onto Highway 17’s westbound direction, and other improved and rebuilt road connections.

People walking at the south end of the old bridge could clearly see the new structures forming the off-ramp to Highway 17, with the existing bridge literally blocking completion of the connection. The Surrey-side, land-based portion of the bridge must be demolished before the off-ramp can be finished. Similarly, on the New Westminster side, the north end of the old bridge is obstructing construction of the new Columbia Street loop on-ramp.

The new bridge’s various remaining connections of the off-ramp onto Highway 17, the on-ramp from Columbia Street, and the new pedestrian and cycling pathways will reach full completion in Spring and Summer 2026. Work can also currently be seen with the installation of the new bridge’s suicide-prevention barriers.

Sometime in 2027, the old bridge will be fully demolished.

The future off-ramp from the new stal̕əw̓asəm/Riverview Bridge's southbound direction to Highway 17 westbound. Demolition of Pattullo Bridge is required to complete the gap.

One of the biggest net gains of the new bridge. #bcpoli #vanpoli #vanre 5/10https://t.co/ntSZhBGi6b pic.twitter.com/nql9A7zZy3

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) February 17, 2026

View of the new stal̕əw̓asəm/Riverview Bridge’s future off-ramp onto Highway 17, blocked by the old Pattullo Bridge; Feb. 15, 2026 walk on the old Pattullo Bridge. (Kenneth Chan)

View of the new stal̕əw̓asəm/Riverview Bridge’s future off-ramp onto Highway 17 and pedestrian/cycling pathways; Feb. 15, 2026 walk on the old Pattullo Bridge. (Kenneth Chan)

The Pattullo Bridge saw average volumes of about 80,000 vehicles per day in recent decades.

When the Pattullo Bridge first opened in 1937, it served to transplant the vehicle traffic that used the 1904-built New Westminster Bridge, which is located below the crossing. This swing bridge was subsequently converted into rail use only. The Pattullo Bridge was originally a tolled crossing, up until 1952.

The bridge was named after Duff Pattullo, who was Premier of B.C. during both the Great Depression and Second World War from 1933 to 1941.

In 1998, when TransLink was formed and took over provincial Crown corporation BC Transit’s Metro Vancouver operations, it was granted with ownership of Pattullo Bridge, including the full operations and maintenance responsibilities.

The public transit authority began planning for a potential replacement crossing about a decade later. It initially opted for a major rehabilitation of the bridge, but that $100-million strategy was abandoned in 2015 after officials determined significant structural safety concerns would remain. Instead, TransLink carried out a $25-million maintenance program to extend the bridge’s lifespan by a few more years, until the new replacement crossing is ready.

But after years of delays with planning progress and financial pressures, the provincial government took over jurisdiction of the bridge replacement project in 2018 to enable TransLink to better focus on public transit.

The closure of the old bridge removes one expensive operational and maintenance cost from TransLink’s budget line. The new stal̕əw̓asəm Bridge is owned, operated, and maintained by the provincial government.

TransLink is also in the early stages of planning a new replacement Westham Island Bridge. It is also responsible for the Knight Street Bridge, and it built the Golden Ears Bridge in 2009.

Some preliminary studies by the federal government have also recently been carried out to explore the possibility of replacing the aging New Westminster Bridge, which sits between the Pattullo Bridge and the stal̕əw̓asəm Bridge and carries extremely high volumes of both freight and passenger rail traffic.

Not something you see every day… #SkyTrain crews walking the Expo Line's SkyBridge over the Fraser River, with trains passing by.

Pretty sure they were staring right back at us on the Pattullo Bridge on Sunday. #vanre 7/10https://t.co/ntSZhBGi6b pic.twitter.com/RM2STW2bEi

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) February 17, 2026

Suicide-prevention fencing installation on the new stal̕əw̓asəm/Riverview Bridge; Feb. 15, 2026 walk on the old Pattullo Bridge. (Kenneth Chan)

View of the new stal̕əw̓asəm/Riverview Bridge; Feb. 15, 2026 walk on the old Pattullo Bridge. (Kenneth Chan)

View of the new stal̕əw̓asəm/Riverview Bridge and New Westminster Rail Bridge; Feb. 15, 2026 walk on the old Pattullo Bridge. (Kenneth Chan)

View of the new stal̕əw̓asəm/Riverview Bridge; Feb. 15, 2026 walk on the old Pattullo Bridge. (Kenneth Chan)

You might also like: