The long-delayed 102 Avenue Bridge will open a bit earlier than expected: early August instead of late September, the city said Thursday.
New girders on the bridge buckled last spring, putting the entire construction project a year behind schedule.
Adam Laughlin, deputy city manager of Integrated Infrastructure Services, said once the 102 Avenue Bridge reopens, construction work will continue but traffic will flow again in early August, perhaps even earlier if the good weather continues.
“Our priority has always been to open up the bridge as soon as it was safe to do so,” Adam Laughlin, deputy city manager of Integrated Infrastructure Services, said.
“An early start to this year’s construction season has allowed us to announce an improved opening date. We’re all looking forward to reopening this important corridor.”
The city said there will be two traffic lanes in each direction with pedestrian access on one side while the finishing work takes place through the summer and fall. Finishing work includes completing sidewalks, installing railings and replacing the concrete median on Groat Road.
Single-lane closures of the bridge will be required during off-peak hours to allow the work to be completed. There will also be closures of Groat Road to complete the remaining activities.
Transit service will also be restored along 102 Avenue.
READ MORE: Bridge girders over Groat Road weren’t properly braced: City of Edmonton
Work to replace the bridge over Groat Road began in July 2014, and was set to last until September 2015. However, three of the girders buckled last March, shutting down Groat for weeks and pushing back the opening of the $32-million project to summer or fall 2016.
The delay and subsequent drop in traffic was devastating for several local businesses, with three being forced to close their doors.
Harlow, a locally-owned boutique in Edmonton’s 124 Street shopping district, shut down this past April.
In January 2016, local specialty kitchen shop Call the Kettle Black called it quits, saying the bridge construction was the “nail in the coffin.”
READ MORE: 102 Ave. bridge construction ‘nail in the coffin’ for Edmonton’s Call the Kettle Black
The Bothy Wine & Whisky Bar’s 124 Street location shuttered its doors in August 2015, saying foot traffic in the area went down as construction on the bridge continued.
An investigation into what went wrong found the bridge’s girders were not properly braced during construction. The contractor is paying the city more than $11,000 per day for the delays. That money goes towards extra transit costs and engineering costs the city is facing because of the bridge delay.
READ MORE: 102 Avenue Bridge 1 year behind schedule; contractor paying $11K daily penalty
More to come…
With files from Caley Ramsay, Emily Mertz and Kendra Slugoski, Global News
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