The City of Edmonton says this summer’s record rainfall and severe storms mean the High Level Bridge will require extensive repairs next year, which will shut down the bridge.
The heavily used High Level connects pedestrians, cyclists and southbound motorists — and an Edmonton streetcar in the summertime — from downtown Edmonton to the city’s Garneau and Strathcona areas.
Summer storms caused landslides and erosions that affected the river valley slopes next to the bridge, and urgent repairs are required, the City of Edmonton said in a news release.
Rehabilitation work on the bridge, which was initially slated for 2028, will start at the same time to try to minimize disruption, the city said.
The High Level will be closed to traffic during rehabilitation work. The pedestrian access will be maintained “when possible” and the city will share any access changes and detours or alternative routes in advance.
Crews have to fix things like bearings, “substructure components on land” and structural drainage, the city said. They will also remove a column in the middle of the west sidewalk to improve safety “and the experience” for pedestrians and cyclists.
Sara Nichols, deputy city manager of integrated infrastructure services, said the closure of the bridge isn’t ideal, but needed to be done.
“We know that another major bridge closure will be disruptive for people traveling through Edmonton, but it’s necessary work to maintain the bridge and address slope stabilization needs,” she said at a news conference on Friday.
She said the closure of the High Level Bridge is a proactive step to prevent further deterioration of the structure, and noted it is still safe to use before it closes.
City officials said some funding for the High Level repairs would come from the province through its Hazard Assistance and Resilience Program.
Mayor Andrew Knack said the city will look into options to try and ensure traffic impacts are addressed as well as possible during the closure.
“We’ve got time between now and spring to go through all the permutations and combinations,” he told reporters during a scrum at city hall. “So that likely includes looking at something like the Walterdale [Bridge] — at one point there had been that conversation of do you do two-way traffic there? There’s good and bad to that and I’m not sure that solves the problem. … But, they’ll analyze that.”
Knack said the city will also look at other options like increasing the frequency of transit service in the area to address the traffic impacts of the bridge’s closure.
“All of the things have to be on the table to make sure that we’re moving people.”
Knack said officials and experts will keep a close eye on the bridge, and acknowledged that while the city would do its best to mitigate traffic issues, Edmontonians will still be impacted by the closure.
The High Level’s facelift, meanwhile, aims to improve accessibility where possible, and to ensure the bridge is safe amid long-term planning to eventually replace it.
While that work happens, the city is pushing rehab to the Low Level Bridge’s northbound lanes to 2028 to help traffic flow, the city said.