Pattullo Bridge Replacement Expected To Open This Winter With A New Indigenous Name

It’s finally time: the Pattullo Bridge Replacement Project is coming to a close. After a number of delays, plenty of closures, and tons of construction, the newly-constructed bridge will be opening very soon with a tentative month already named for opening.

THE PATTULLO BRIDGE REPLACEMENT PROJECT

The Pattullo Bridge has gone through a lot of unexpected delays throughout the years. At first, it was expected to open in 2023, until a 2024 completion date became more realistic. Now, the date is set in 2025 with the highly-anticipated opening to come this winter.

Being 88 years old, the bridge has been in dire need of a makeover. The new Pattullo Bridge now features 10% wider lanes, as well as the possibility to increase its four-lane crossing into six lanes. In general, it will be providing:

• A safer crossing with wider lanes and a centre median that separates traffic travelling in opposite directions.
• Modern lane widths to increase capacity on the bridge by 10%.
• Improved community connections in New Westminster and Surrey.
• Separate pedestrian and cyclist paths.

Additionally, part of the Patullo Bridge Replacement project is a new art installation beneath the Highway 17-Old Yale Road overpass, as well as a new name for the Pattullo Bridge. It will be soon replaced with a new one in the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language to honour the land the bridge is on. No name has been announced as of yet, although “more details about the name will be shared in the coming months,” said the Government of B.C..

PATTULLO BRIDGE OPENING DATE

The new Pattullo Bridge is slated to open in a phased approach. For around a week, there will be no crossings on either structures. The executive director of the Pattullo Bridge Replacement Project, Wendy Itagawa, explained to the Surrey council about how the the transition to the new bridge should look.

“Given that the new bridge ties in to the existing road network – at King George and McBridge – we need to do the opening in a phased approach. We will transition in a careful and planned way to the new bridge. We will need a full road closure of the existing bridge and the new bridge won’t be open and that will be about a week where there’s no crossing. So that is needed in order to do the roadwork that’s needed at the interfaces of the bridge heads.”

For now, the expected opening date of the Pattullo Bridge is sometime in December. Expect around a week of closures before it’s completely ready for traffic, though.