Edmonton will begin work on several bridges throughout 2025, city hopes to avoid traffic issues

The city is trying to reassure Edmontonians that bridge construction planned for the next few years won't create traffic chaos.

The City of Edmonton announced work on three bridges will begin this year to replace or maintain them with the hopes of limiting traffic disruptions.

The city has 12 ongoing bridge projects as of February.

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On Monday, the city announced plans for the Dawson Bridge rehabilitation and Low Level Bridge (southbound) rehabilitation and an update on the Wellington Bridge replacement project.

“Each of those bridges … is being managed independently, but coordinated with other projects in a way that … the knock on effects from one don’t interfere or impact other bridge projects,” said Jason Meliefste, the branch manager for infrastructure delivery with the city.

“Looking back over the last 25 years, we have systematically done about, on average, one to two bridges every year.”

The Dawson Bridge is set to undergo “minor rehabilitation to strengthen the bridge piers” and extend the bridge’s service life, according to the city. Meliefste added that the work is considered “high priority and emergent.”

“It’s an old bridge structure … which is why we’re continuing to monitor it very closely in terms of its performance,” he said.

The work will begin in the summer and will require night and weekend closures on occasion.

Intermediate lane reductions are expected to occur with the city anticipating the work will have “low impact” on traffic.

The city expects to keep one side of the bridge’s shared-use pathway open.

That project is expected to be done by the end of the year.

The Dawson Bridge was originally built in 1912.

The Low Level Bridge Northbound and Southbound structures are both reaching the end of their useful service life and need to be rehabilitated, according to the city.

The city determined that while work will be done on the southbound bridge to extend its lifetime, it will eventually be decommissioned while the northbound bridge will undergo more work in 2026.

“We have continuously planned rehabilitation to ensure that they’re safe and reliable, but at some point in time, they all have an end of life,” Meliefste said.

The interim work on the southbound bridge is set to begin in late summer or fall of 2025 and will require a full closure of the bridge.

The southbound traffic will be rerouted to the Low Level Bridge Northbound while northbound traffic will be diverted to the James MacDonald Bridge on 98 Avenue.

Work on the southbound bridge is expected to last around four months and be finished by the end of the year.

The Low Level Bridge Northbound was originally built in 1900 and is Edmonton’s oldest river crossing bridge.

The Low Level Bridge Southbound was originally built in 1949 and its last major rehabilitation work was in 1994, according to the city.

The Wellington Bridge has reached the end of its lifespan and needs to be replaced.

The project is set to move out of the design phase with demolition set to start in late 2025.

The work is scheduled for over the fall and winter as the demolition and construction of the new bridge’s substructure aren’t weather dependent.

“By the time that work gets complete, spring happens, and then we’re able to build a superstructure with an intent of reopening the following fall,” Meliefste said.

The city used this plan with the Duggan and Latta Bridge projects.

Planning for this project began in 2020, but the city had been delaying it to avoid issues with the West LRT project, Meliefste added.

The Wellington Bridge was originally built in 1932.

The city also announced that design work for the High Level Bridge rehabilitation is underway, with construction timelines yet to be determined.

“We know that there is more interest in exploring how that bridge could be used for other uses, whether active modes or bikes,” Meliefste said.

“We have to weave all of those things together, and at some point we have to have a conversation with council and get some direction around what their interest is and what administration should take for next steps.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson