Starting in December, transit buses will not be able to cross the Groat Road bridge until summer 2020, when work to refurbish the roadway in Edmonton’s river valley is expected to wrap up.
Starting Sunday, Dec. 2, Edmonton Transit Service will begin rerouting buses on other roads. The city said the detours are a precautionary measure to ensure reliable bus service and a safe worksite, complying with a truck ban in the construction zone.
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Instead of using Groat Road to service the transit centre at the University of Alberta, Routes 128 and 130, as well as school specials 725 and 757, will detour to Government Centre Transit Centre, located on the north edge of the Alberta legislature grounds near 107 Street and 98 Avenue.
Transit users will then have to switch to a different bus route or transfer to the LRT in order to get across the river to the university. New bus stops will also be located near Corona station on Jasper Avenue.
WATCH: The Groat Road bridge construction project is now underway in central Edmonton. The project is scheduled to last three construction seasons. Kim Smith filed this report in April 2018.
Route 128 runs from Castle Downs to the university and route 130 runs from Northgate through the centre of the city and to the U of A.
Strathcona County bus 414, which travels from the Bethel Transit Terminal in Sherwood Park to the university, is being detoured across the Low Level Bridge and one stop will be affected.
St. Albert Transit buses 203 and 204, which travel between the community north of Edmonton and the university along Groat Road, are also affected.
As a result of the detour, bus stops will be temporarily closed along Groat Road, Victoria Park Road, 87 Avenue west of the University of Alberta, as well as two southbound bus stops on 116 Street between Jasper Avenue and 100 Avenue.
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Temporary onsite signage at affected bus stops will help communicate these upcoming changes.
The $48-million Groat Road project includes refurbishing three bridges: the Mayfair Bridge over Groat Road near Emily Murphy Park south of the river, the Groat Road Bridge over the North Saskatchewan — which is two spans side by side — and the Victoria Park Road Bridge on the north riverbank.
The finished product will result in a wider bridge deck over the river and a wider shared-use path.