A number of traffic changes are coming to New West roads in the coming months as part of the Pattullo Bridge replacement project.
At a recent meeting, council received an update about some road closures that will be impacting local roads in the months to come – including some starting later this month.
“You may have noticed work occurring primarily in the river on the project, but we're going to be seeing some changes on land before too long,” said Lisa Leblanc, the city’s director of engineering. “We're going to see more and more activity that's going to be affecting traffic, in particular on the New West side.”
Wendy Itagawa, executive director of the Pattullo Bride replacement project, expressed gratitude to city staff and citizens for their support on the project.
“We know construction projects are not easy to live with, and we thank you for your patience and understanding in New West as we get through this together,” she said. “We will minimize the impacts where we can and continue to notify upcoming activities.”
According to Itagawa, work is being planned at different times that will affect the three main streets in the area – Front Street, Columbia Street and Royal Avenue.
“This work will be staged,” she said. “So, two roads will be open at all times.”
Work requiring road closures gets underway this month, with utility works set to begin on April 17. That work requires some closures on Columbia Street, including eastbound (heading toward Sapperton) and westbound (heading to the downtown).
“This work will take approximately five weeks and will require a full 24/7 eastbound closure between Elliott Street and McBride,” Itagawa said. “One westbound lane will remain open on weekdays between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. for through-traffic and access to the Columbia Street on-ramp onto the bridge.”
While that work is underway, Columbia Street (between Sixth and Elliott streets) will remain open to local traffic. Access to local businesses on Columbia Street will be maintained, and the Central Valley Greenway will remain open for pedestrian and cyclist use.
“Drivers travelling eastbound on Columbia will be detoured at Sixth Street to Royal. Front Street will remain open. Emergency vehicle access will also be maintained at all times,” Itagawa said. “As part of this work, we also require some nighttime and some weekend closures, so full closures, meaning Columbia Street will be closed in both directions between Elliott and McBride. These would happen between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.”
Media advisories, road signage and the project’s website will alert drivers to the road closures and detour routes.
Other work slated to take place in late April is the replacement of the Royal Avenue overpass deck. While this work is underway, Columbia and Front streets will both remain open to vehicular traffic.
“Crews will be removing the old deck and replacing it with an entirely new deck surface,” Itagawa said. “You may have noticed a new deck being built adjacent to the road line. It will be lifted and positioned into place with cranes. It requires a three-day closure of the bridge connector and a section of Royal Avenue. This will be the safest and most efficient way to accomplish this deck replacement for the overpass structure.”
To complete this work, Itagawa said the contractor requires a two- to three-day closure of Royal Avenue, between the off-ramp from McBride Boulevard to Leopold Place. A full weekend closure of traffic in both directions on the bridge connector in New Westminster and of northbound lanes on the Pattullo Bridge will also be required.
“Pedestrians and cyclists will be detoured on to Columbia Street,” Itagawa said. “As I mentioned, this closure will take place over a weekend to minimize disruption to drivers and local residents.”
Later in the summer, improvements will take place at the McBride Boulevard and East Columbia Street intersection. It will require a partial closure of the intersection.
“We’re still working through this, but this will require one to two weekends to do this work,” Itagawa said. “This intersection requires modification to improve the safety and the sight lines.”
As part of this work, the project team has received the city’s permission to alter a portion of the Woodlands wall, which extends along the front of the Victoria Hill site.
“We have obtained heritage alteration permit for this work, and the project has removed approximately 85 metres of the wall at the corner McBride Boulevard and East Columbia Street,” Itagawa said. “The wall will be rebuilt further to the north of East Columbia, and the iron will be salvaged and reinstalled on the new wall.”
In the fall, closures will take place on Front Street, Columbia Street and Royal Avenue so that the new bridge girders can be installed.
“As we get closer to this work, we will be providing more details. But I did want to mention that at this meeting, that this work is upcoming,” Itagawa told council April 3. “We’ll work closely with city staff on this to mitigate as much as possible.”
Itagawa said the project team wants to get this work done as quickly as possible and to prioritize safety. Mitigation measures includes the use of signage and traffic control personnel and communication with business groups and residents.
Conversation needed
Mayor Patrick Johnstone said council and staff will need to have a conversation about some aspects of the work, including the rerouting of trucks during the closure of Front Street.
“We have had Front Street closures in the past, and there has been positive and negative reactions to how the trucks rerouted. So I want to make sure we're having a conversation up ahead, have a discussion on how we manage that truck traffic during that closure,” he said. “And also, some opportunities, if we have it, again, to activate Front Street like it has been in the past when it's closed for work at the one end. The part of the Front Street that isn't being used for that work is actually a great public space at times.”
Johnstone said there will likely be a significant increase of the number of cars going up Sixth Street and turning right onto Royal Avenue while some of the construction is taking place. He suggested the city may need to consider if it’s able to change the signal timing at that intersection.
“The Sixth Street intersection is already a bit of a challenge for signal timing and for queuing,” he said.
