Edmonton will not close multiple bridges at once during construction

The City of Edmonton is planning to rehabilitate multiple bridges over the next five years.

But the city is assuring it will not be closing more than one bridge at once amid concerns over traffic disruptions.

The upcoming shutdown of the Wellington Bridge along 102 Avenue West is causing businesses in the area to raise concerns over traffic disruptions.

“It’s heartbreaking to be standing on this very corner. These are businesses that were negatively impacted by construction in this area,” said Cheryll Watson, the Chair of the Downtown Revitalization Coalition.

The Wellington Bridge will be fully closed late this year, with construction lasting about a year.

“We’ve been putting off the rehabilitation of Wellington Bridge for a number of years. Largely because we were trying to avoid any kind of knock-on effects or interdependencies impacts with the West LRT project,” said Jason Meliefste, the branch manager of infrastructure delivery and integrated infrastructure services at the City of Edmonton.

As for the Dawson Bridge, which is located east of downtown, it will no longer be fully closed – with a plan for night or weekend work expected to be released in late spring.

Construction on the Low Level Bridge is expected this summer. Drivers travelling south will instead take over the current northbound bridge. Northbound traffic will be rerouted to the James Macdonald Bridge on 98 Avenue.

“These bridges live in a system that never stops,” Meliefste said. “They’re continuously being used every day, and they continuously need to be maintained.”

The city also clarified there’s no plan to close the High Level Bridge until 2027, when all other bridge projects are complete.

And they are no longer considering the Walterdale for two-way traffic.

“Traffic flow impact and business impact, so when they’re contracting these construction projects, those should be of the highest principles because to date they haven’t been,” Watson said.

“The city administration absolutely can provide financial assistance to some of these businesses that are impacted.”

City council previously voted against financial relief for businesses impacted by large construction projects because of tough budget realities.