Pattullo Bridge reopens as May long weekend work finishes early

The Pattullo Bridge reopened Sunday as the construction work scheduled for the May long weekend finished ahead of time.

The busy bridge over the Fraser River was originally set to be closed to northbound traffic (into New Westminster) until Tuesday.

Royal Avenue remains closed between McBride Boulevard and the Royal Avenue on-ramp, TransLink says in a news release.

The work completed was replacing the Royal Avenue overpass bridge deck, which was previously rescheduled due to an equipment error, Translink explained in a news release last Tuesday.

The bridge was also closed during the Easter long weekend, and reopened two days ahead of schedule then as well.

The $1.3 billion Pattullo Bridge Replacement Project began in 2020 to replace the nearly 100-year-old current bridge.

The new bridge was initially set to be ready by 2021, but the pandemic and supply chain issues pushed the new expected opening date to 2024.