Bridge rehabilitation work on Whoop-Up Drive will see lane closures, traffic congestion

A major construction project is set to get underway on Whoop-Up Drive next week, allowing crews to complete the final stage of bridge rehabilitation.

A significant bridge rehabilitation project expected to last nearly two months and involve several lane closures along Lethbridge’s Whoop-Up Drive is set to get underway next week.

Crews will be completing the second and final phase of the bridge rehabilitation project that began last summer.

“Anytime you work on a bridge, it’s major, and you always want to extend the life because, obviously, Whoop-Up is a very important route from west side to south side and vice versa,” said Richard Brummund, road infrastructure manager with the City of Lethbridge.

The rehabilitation project is designed to preserve the structure of the bridge and reduce the potential for larger repairs, replacements or structural failures.

“The expansion joints are something like 40 years old, and they’re leaking and, of course, what that means is the salts and the erosion go through the joints and then start deteriorating the structure below,” said Brummund.

To complete the work, the city will close two lanes of traffic at a time.

One lane of traffic will remain open, with a second lane of traffic being added by using the median crossover diverters.

“We’re putting one lane of westbound traffic onto the south side of the bridge, so now there will be two lanes in both directions,” said Brummund.

Lower speed limits will also be in effect on Whoop-Up Drive.

The city says traffic delays are expected.

Detours will be in place in various spots, including the closure of northbound Scenic Drive to Whoop-Up Drive to direct motorists to Highway 3 to access west Lethbridge.

Brummund says planning to minimize the impact on drivers has been ongoing for more than a year.

“We have the University Drive paving project that we want to get finished first,” he said.

“We’re making sure that the highway department has completed all of their work before we start our work on the bridge.”

To lessen congestion during rush hour, the city has added an additional turning lane to Bridge Drive and University Drive West to help move increased traffic through this route.

Scheduled milling and paving work will be completed this week to prevent overlapping.

Brummund is asking drivers to plan ahead, use Highway 3 when possible and check the city’s web cameras for a live view of Whoop-Up Drive before heading to the west side.

The city says the bulk of the project is planned for July and August when schools are out and traffic is lighter.

Construction is expected to be completed by the end of September.