One lane opens on long-awaited Pattullo Bridge replacement

A single northbound lane on the long-awaited Pattullo Bridge replacement has opened to traffic, marking the first step in a phased opening process.

The lane allows northbound vehicles from Surrey to cross the Fraser River and exit onto East Columbia Street in New Westminster, according to the Ministry of Transportation and Transit.

The bridge is named stal̕əw̓asəm (Riverview) Bridge, which means “a space where you can view the river."

Drivers heading north are being directed to stay in the right lane on King George Boulevard to access the new bridge. All other traffic, including pedestrians and cyclists, will continue to use the older Pattullo Bridge, which remains open in both directions during this phase.

The ministry says traffic will be shifted to the new bridge in stages to allow crews to complete connections to existing roadways on both sides of the river. Further phases are expected to begin in January and will involve different lane configurations.

As part of that work, the ministry says there will also be a one-week closure of both the old Pattullo Bridge and stal̕əw̓asəm Bridge in mid to late January. The ministry says that work will depend on weather conditions and exact dates will be announced once confirmed.

Once all four lanes of the new bridge are open, the province plans to begin dismantling the old Pattullo Bridge, a process, it says, that will take about two years.

The replacement project, now estimated to cost $1.67 billion, is intended to address long-standing safety concerns with the existing bridge, which was built in the 1930s and carries roughly 60,000 vehicles a day.

In 2016, a report presented to TransLink's board of directors showed the bridge did not meet modern wind and seismic safety standards. The report to Metro Vancouver's transit authority recommended the bridge be replaced by no later than 2024. 

The bridge was originally expected to open in 2023, but the timeline was pushed back several times. The province has previously cited pandemic-related delays, inflation, global supply-chain issues and the complexity of building the bridge’s 167-metre tower.

New Westminster Coun. Ruby Campbell said residents have been waiting years to see progress on the replacement project.

“It’s great to see this project moving forward,” Campbell said. "So it's a big day."

She acknowledged the project has faced repeated delays but said its scale made some of those challenges inevitable.

“Sure, we were hoping for more, but big infrastructure projects take a lot of time, a lot of people, a lot of supplies, a lot of engineering," she said.