Latest news with #LowLevelBridge
CTV News
29-07-2025
- Automotive
- CTV News
Construction underway for repairs to Low Level Bridge
Edmontonians will have to find another route downtown for the next few months as construction officially begins on the Low Level Bridge Monday. Northbound traffic on the bridge has been completely shut down with traffic being detoured to the James MacDonald Bridge while upgrades happen. There will be temporary single-lane closures on the southbound Low Level Bridge during off-peak hours while a traffic crossover is built. Two-lane traffic will remain during the afternoon peak traffic hours. It will be fully closed during construction. 'When we look at the traffic patterns and how traffic moves around Edmonton, we found that the southbound movement out of downtown was critical to remain in place,' said Ryan Tiplitsky, supervisor of transportation of the delivery department with the City of Edmonton. The bridge opened in 1900 and was the very first one to be built in the city. Tiplitsky says most of the work on the bridge is being done underneath it, including cleaning. 'If you look out there, you're going to see it looks very rusted. We're going to clean that up, the bridge itself has life left, but we make sure it's going to last enough before we actually have to replace it,' he said. Despite the rehabilitation for the project, the bridge will still need to be replaced within five to seven years. Tiplitsky says people will still be able to get in and out of downtown, something Cheryl Watson with the Downtown Revitalization Coalition, disagrees with. 'The issue is not necessarily specific to bridge construction or maintenance. We know that this is necessary, the alarm that we have been raising since the beginning of the year is that this is just one more route to our downtown that is blocked,' Watson told CTV News Edmonton. With the Valleyline LRT construction nowhere near completion, Watson says this is just another blow to commuters. 'You can't have all of these different routes inaccessible all at the same time. So staggering construction projects of main infrastructure traffic routes that are going to impact downtown. We can spread them out.' The upgrades are expected to last until the end of the year with north and southbound traffic opening come the winter. With files from CTV News Edmonton's Marek Tkach and Angela Amato
CBC
28-07-2025
- Automotive
- CBC
Low Level Bridge closes Monday as series of bridge repair projects set to begin
Social Sharing Repairs underway on the Low Level Bridge is set to cause major traffic detours for vehicles entering the downtown core until work is complete later this year. Starting Monday, vehicles looking to cross the river from Scona Road will be rerouted to the James MacDonald/98th Avenue bridge instead. Northbound buses including routes eight, 500X, 511 and 523 will also be rerouted along 98th Avenue. Only the southbound bridge will see repair work, but the city is blocking off all northbound traffic during the project. Ryan Teplitsky, an engineer with the city, told CBC News traffic modelling showed it was important to keep the southbound traffic flowing out of downtown. The major downtown connector is made of two separate bridge decks — one going north and another going south. The northbound deck, built in 1900, is the city's oldest river crossing. The southbound bridge followed in 1949, but last saw major repairs in 1994. The city will also reduce the southbound bridge to one lane outside of peak hours, but will still be open to foot-traffic, cyclists and scooters during construction. "The intent of this work is to extend this bridge's service life," Teplitsky said. But the bridge is still on its last legs and the city is planning to replace it. The work being done on the Low Level Bridge is now one of many major river-crossing bridge projects the city is undertaking in 2025. Since initial planning some timelines have been shuffled. The Beverly Bridge on Yellowhead Trail is already being repaired, and the Dawson Bridge on Rowland Road will see repairs in the fall. The High Level Bridge has also been slated for work but Teplitsky said there isn't a concrete date on when work will start. Advocates for downtown businesses have been pushing back against the city's plans for back-to-back bridge work since the work was announced citing concerns around closures and access to downtown. Some are calling for changes to the city's major construction projects. "Closures will continue to decimate our downtown," says Cheryll Watson, chair of the Downtown Revitalization Coalition. Watson says the core is already being cut off from the west amid other closures and LRT construction. The upcoming bridge closures will bring even more restraints, making it harder for people to reach small businesses downtown. She admits there has been improved communication from the city about the projects since last year. Still, she's asking the city for better long-term construction planning, minimized detours, smaller efficient construction zones and accelerated timelines. "Construction is a reality. We seem to do it the worst," Watson said. "We basically shut down areas of our city to get construction done and that's not what's happening in other cities around the world." Puneeta McBryan from the Edmonton Downtown Business Association says many members in her organization are holding their breath. Faith in the city's ability to keep to a schedule on major construction projects is low, she says, and she's worried about potential overlap. "We know that these projects rarely end on time," McBryan said. When asked about frustration over construction timelines and construction Teplitsky said the city appreciates people's patience. He says there has been a lot of planning into mitigating the impacts of construction. "Edmonton's a tough place for our roads and our infrastructure, it's a really tough climate," Teplitsky said.
