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Pattullo Bridge replacement scheduled to open in 2023

New Fraser River crossing will replace the aging Pattullo, which opened in 1937.
Pattullo Bridge
The Pattullo Bridge - which opened in 1937 - will be replaced, with construction expected to begin in summer 2019.

Drivers, cyclists and pedestrians could be crossing the Fraser River over a brand new bridge within five years.

The provincial government announced Friday it is taking on the role of designing, financing and building a $1.377-billion replacement for the Pattullo Bridge, which opened in 1937. The new bridge had been included in the mayors’ council on regional transportation’s 10-year vision for the region but had no identified funding source.

“The last time we were gathered talking about transportation in the region, it was to announce the elimination of tolls on the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges,” Premier John Horgan told a crowd gathered at Westminster Pier Park. “That has relieved pressure here in New Westminster, as well as on the Pattullo Bridge, with more traffic going back to those new pieces of infrastructure. But that does not change the fact that this bridge was designed in the 1920s, built in the 1930s and is well past its best-before date. It’s long overdue to replace the Pattullo Bridge.”

By taking on the project, Horgan said the province will be providing a safer crossing and reducing travel times for commuters. He said the project will create jobs and the bridge will help the province meet its climate change objectives.

Claire Trevena, B.C.'s minister of transportation and infrastructure, said there are 68,000 crossings of the Pattullo each day and there are “serous safety concerns” with the structure, noting there are times when trucks straddle lanes.

“It’s not designed for the size of vehicles we have now,” she said. “It was designed of the size of vehicles they had in the 1920s.”

The new bridge will have four vehicle lanes as well as specific lanes for cyclists and pedestrians on both sides.

“It will be a safe, modern bridge, making the connections between New Westminster and Surrey, for the whole region, much better, much safer,” Trevena said.

She said a request for qualifications will go out this spring, followed by a request for proposals, and building should start in summer 2019, with an opening planned for 2023 — "which is about the real end of the lifespan of the 80-plus year old Pattullo Bridge.”

Horgan said the bridge will be funded from the province’s $14.6-billion, three-year capital plan.

TransLink retains responsibility of the existing bridge until the new bridge is built.

New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote welcomed the announcement, saying it makes it a lot easier for the mayors’ council on regional transportation to take on other aspects of its 10-year plan.

“This was a major hurdle that didn’t have an identified funding source but which we, as the region’s mayors, recognized needed to be done,” he said. “Having the Pattullo Bridge come off the plate of the mayors’ council and TransLink, I think, now makes it a lot easier for us to move forward with the public transit investments we have been working hard to put in place.”

Cote said there’s no doubt bridge construction is going to have some traffic impacts but said he's confident the province will work closely with Surrey and New Westminster to mitigate the impacts.