Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool filming plans Georgia Viaduct shutdown

The City of Vancouver has green lighted a complete closure of the Georgia Viaduct during early-morning and daytime hours for a period of eleven days in April.

The shutdown of the arterial bypass road, which feeds eastbound traffic from downtown Vancouver, is being performed to accommodate filming for a major scene in 20th Century Fox’s Deadpool, a spinoff film of the studios’ growing X-Men cinematic universe.

Traffic closures on the Georgia Viaduct will occur during the following dates and times:

April 5: Closed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
April 6 to 16: Closed to all traffic on weekdays between 5 a.m. to 3 p.m., in time for the evening outbound rush hour traffic travelling out of the peninsula.
- When filming completes at 3 p.m., one lane will reopen to permit traffic to pass a 100-metre screened area. All lanes will open once past this area.
April 11: Closed from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Shutdowns could also occur on: Sunday, April 12; Friday, April 17; and Saturday, April 18. These dates are being held by the production team for contingency purposes.

There is no impact to traffic on the parallel Dunsmuir Viaduct, which funnels traffic into downtown from the eastern suburbs.

“After scouting locations in North America and Europe, we selected Vancouver for both budgetary reasons and because of the City’s increasingly positive reputation regarding its support for filming,” said Deadpool Executive Producer, John Kelly.

“The use of the viaduct is necessary to accommodate a critical scene that requires the appearance of highway overpasses entering a major urban centre. We are very pleased to have this opportunity to work with the City of Vancouver.”

The municipal government contends that the Deadpool production will have an enormous positive economic impact to the local economy. The production company will spend about $38 million and hire more than 1,100 people.

The last time the Georgia Viaduct was closed for an extensive period was during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games when the roads around BC Place and Rogers Arena were incorporated into the security buffer.

Deadpool will be directed by Tim Miller and is currently scheduled for a February 12, 2016 theatrical release.

It stars Vancouver native Ryan Reynolds, who has previously played roles in three other major comic book-based films: Hannibal King in the 2004 film Blade: Trinity, Nick Walker in 2013’s R.I.P.D. and DC Comics’ Green Lantern in the 2011 film of the same name – a movie that was poorly received and made only $220-million worldwide.