A New Westminster councillor is proposing a three-day goodbye party for the Pattullo Bridge, slated for decommissioning, that would actually take place on the bridge.
The motion, going before the city’s mayor and council on Monday night, states that the aging bridge is “an iconic part of the City of New Westminster’s history,” and the public should have a “unique opportunity” to experience it without vehicle and truck traffic.
“If we’re going to decommission the bridge, at least offer the public an opportunity to not just celebrate the new bridge, which likely will happen, but also for us to be able to kind of pay respects to the Pattullo, which has served as a big transportation route between Surrey and New Westminster for four decades,” Coun. Daniel Fontaine, who is proposing the party, told Global News in an interview.
Fontaine is suggesting a three-day festival including live music and entertainment along with a celebration of the bridge’s 86 years of history — all with “impressive” views of the Fraser River, Surrey and New Westminster.
“There’s there’s a lot of negativity in terms of the commuters who use the bridge, but yet it’s been a stalwart, it’s been the connection between Surrey and New Westminster for four decades,” he said.
“I would love to have the opportunity for the public to be able to see and to feel and to experience that bridge again in a positive way as one of their kind of final kind of departing moments before it’s finally decommissioned and brought out to the recycled people.”
The $1.4-billion replacement for the Pattullo Bridge is already under construction and slated for completion in 2024.
It will include much-needed upgrades, including protected walking and cycling lanes, better connections to, from and near the bridge, and a safer pathway for those crossing the bridge. It will also be built with two in-river piers, instead of the current six, to ease the project’s impact on the ecosystem.
The existing Pattullo Bridge will remain open until its replacement is ready, then taken apart and removed.
“Before it’s taken apart, I hope we can get together as a region and celebrate,” said Fontaine.
“When the bridge opened in 1937 it had a 25-cent toll, perhaps we can raise some money for charity by collecting a quarter from everyone over the three-day event. That’s just one idea, I know the community will have others, but if we’re going to do this, the planning should start right away.”
Ideally, the party would take place on a three-day weekend with the bridge open for pedestrians and cyclists, while the new bridge is open to vehicle traffic, he added.
Global News has reached out to New Westminster Mayor Patrick Johnstone and the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure for comment on this story. The Ministry of Transportation referred a request for comment to TransLink, which owns the bridge.
If the party is approved, co-ordination with the provincial government would be required.
Monday’s motion directs Johnstone to write a letter to the ministry to determine the feasibility of the festival, and instructs council to begin work with the ministry to make it happen.