Anyone who has driven over the Pattullo Bridge between New Westminster and Surrey will agree it’s a bit stressful. Fortunately, the drive takes only a few minutes, even in heavy traffic. Even so, I find myself mentally preparing for the narrow lanes, and that centre row of yellow poles which is not much of a barrier between the oncoming traffic. Everyone will be happy when the bridge is replaced with a new one, but that will not be until 2023. In the meantime, repairs to the bridge’s road surface will continue to be necessary as the old bridge is simply worn out. For commuters, the necessary daytime closures have been minimised with most of the construction being done at night. We should remember to be thankful for this even though we can all get impatient at times. This summer’s repairs started on April 29 and are scheduled to continue until October 3. So far more than 1,185 square metres of the asphalt deck have been repaired. Translink, the agency responsible for the bridge, reports on its website that 67 full depth repairs have also been done. I believe this refers to whole chunks of concrete that have separated and fallen off the bridge’s roadway leaving potholes that you could look through to the water below – a sure sign the bridge needs to be replaced.
I find something very humorous in all this: that the repairs are described as “rehabilitating” the bridge – as if the bridge itself has done something bad and its behaviour is being corrected. Actually, we should be congratulating the bridge for holding up so well, long after its original life expectancy. The Pattullo Bridge officially opened in 1937, so for an 80-year-old it’s doing pretty well. Did you know that it was originally designed to last for 50 years? The car commuters in the lower mainland have actually got 30 extra years out of this iconic structure. For this reason, I say, let’s not call its repair project one of “rehabilitation.” Let’s say instead that we’re giving the grand old bridge some “life support” in its final years. I think it deserves to be remembered as a dignified edifice – not a wayward social outcast!
A lot of thought and consultation has gone into replacing the bridge. Project consultations date back to 2003. In 2011 there were four background reports and three project reports. One more in 2012, two in 2014; two more in 2015; and 10 community consultations in 2016. No one can say it hasn’t been well thought out. In all, there were 25 alternatives explored, and in the end the most viable solution was to replace the old bridge with a completely new one. The selection of the contractor for the new bridge construction is the next step. It is supposed to be done in a period starting this fall and completed by early 2019. Construction is then supposed to start in the Spring of 2019 and completed by the end of 2022. A date everyone can look forward to!
In my next blog I will talk about a special design feature of the Pattullo Bridge that I hope is preserved in the replacement bridge.
Thanks for reading!
Sibo Zhang, REALTOR®
Image courtesy of surrey.ca