Saint John mayor ‘grateful’ bridge closures will only happen at night or early morning

Planned closures of the Harbour Bridge in Saint John will now take place at night or in the early morning hours.

It turns out the Saint John Harbour Bridge will only be closed at night or early morning as the span undergoes necessary refurbishing work over the coming months.

The first bridge closure happened Thursday between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The City of Saint John issued a news release about the closure just before 5 p.m.

The New Brunswick Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI) previously said the intermittent closures would happen outside peak traffic hours and last about 20 minutes. They are expected to happen two to three times per month until early November.

However, residents, business owners and the mayor had expressed concerns and frustrations over the intermittent closures, which were expected to happen during the daytime.

Now, the city says DTI has decided the closures will happen between 6:30 p.m. and 7 a.m. “to minimize the impact to motorists.”

Mayor ‘grateful’ for change

Mayor Donna Reardon says she’s “grateful” for the change in rescheduling.

“It’s a lot better for us,” Reardon told CTV News in a phone interview Friday.

“It was upsetting for people because it’s another big delay and we didn’t know when the closures were going to be, we didn’t have a timeframe for them.”

Reardon says she’s also grateful the province has listened and responded to her concerns.

“It certainly helps us as leaders in the city. We have no role in any of that, but we certainly hear when things aren’t copacetic,” said Reardon. “It’s nice to see a response to concerns from the city. I do appreciate that.”

Mayor hopes for better communication

However, the mayor says she’s still waiting to see if the city will get the closure schedule in advance. She hopes the province will better communicate the closures well ahead of time, so the city can then notify residents.

“We need to know ahead of time so that we can get that information out,” she said. “I think the public expectation of information has changed. It’s not like it was five or 10 yeas ago. People have that instant information a lot of the time and with these things we need this instant information.

“Definitely more than 24 hours in advance because it’s not effective if we’re trying to get the information out.”

The city says the intermittent closures are required to raise the bridge deck by using jacks and motorists should use the Reversing Falls Bridge during these times. This phase of the bridge work is expected to be completed by the end of the fall.

Refurbishing project

The bridge has been undergoing a phased refurbishing project since 2021. The project could cost as much as $31 million by the time it’s finished in 2027 – up from the project’s initial budget of more than $26 million.

The federal and New Brunswick governments announced $15 million in funding for the project in February 2023. The provincial government says the construction project will extend the 1.3-kilometre structure’s lifespan by 30 to 50 years.

The Saint John Harbour Bridge first opened to traffic in August 1968.

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