[Amn]

By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun
January 25, 2009 3:01 PM


The Pattullo Bridge will reopen in time for the morning rush hour Monday, a week after it was closed when fire struck a section of wooden trestle at its south-end and forced its 80,000 daily commuters onto other routes and public transit.

TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie said work on the bridge was done quicker than expected because crews were able to get all the materials they needed to replace the 18-metre wooded section with a bridging deck used in the Canada Line construction.

The new span, which was used as a temporary bridge to allow workers to cross digging gaps during the SkyTrain construction, specifically at 41st and Cambie, was in place in this morning.

TransLink now plans to pave the section and have the bridge open by 6 a.m. Monday.

Some repaving of the worst potholes on the bridge has also be done, Hardie said.

"It all just fell into place perfectly," he said Sunday.

The Pattullo, which connects Surrey and New Westminster, was expected to be closed to all traffic for at least a month after fire struck the wooden trestle last Sunday morning.

TransLink says the fire may have been started by homeless people, who were huddled under the trestle and lit a candle to keep warm. The area was blocked by a chainlink fence. Surrey RCMP are still investigating.

The closure funnelled commuters to alternate routes, causing gridlock over the Port Mann and Alex Fraser bridges and the George Massey tunnel.

Although TransLink added more SkyTrain cars and started the service earlier and urged commuters to use public transit, officials said it appeared commuters were instead driving earlier or later to work to avoid the rush.

The Pattullo carries about 20 per cent of the traffic passing over the Fraser River in Metro Vancouver.

The average traffic volume on the Port Mann Bridge is 127,000 cars a day, while the Alex Fraser Bridge sees 98,000 vehicles daily.

Hardie said the bridge closure was one of the biggest crises TransLink has had to deal with "in terms that we have not any other event impacting the whole system for a week," he said. "This is the longest term issue we've had to deal with and it's a major loss of a piece of our network."

The wooden trestle, which has been shored up over time to keep it stable, had been slated for replacement within the next five months in a bid to keep the bridge safe and maintained for the next 10 years while a new replacement six-lane bridge is built.

The design for the new bridge is 85-per-cent complete and Hardie said it could be built as soon as six years.

The Pattullo, built in 1937, was the first major commuting route between Surrey and communities to the north and west. Over the years, its narrow lanes and sharply curved approaches have been blamed for numerous head-on collisions.

[Amn]

Attention:

He just said "rush hour in the morning"

[3M]

good news

[Sunmax]

好消息，总好过要等多3个星期。

[lin7579]

太好了正打算初二到素里給乾媽賀年

[myversa]

My coworker just drove through the bridge and he said it was fast traffic.