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![\"Damir](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4401626_web1_260716-Arlington-bridge-0158.jpg\")
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Damir Muhurdarevic, the city\u2019s Bridge Project Engineer, tells the media how the spans are going to be removed. (Mike Deal \/ Free Press)<\/p>\n
Mayor Scott Gillingham called it a \u201chistoric day\u201d as crews worked to dismantle the bridge.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday marks the start of what council has decided needs to happen. The bridge needs to come down,\u201d Gillingham told reporters near the blocked-off bridge.<\/p>\n
Decommissioning and removing the bridge will occur in two stages. The first will involve removing the south part of the bridge from Logan Avenue into the CPKC rail yard. The second phase, slated to begin in 2027, will work north at Dufferin Avenue.<\/p>\n
The bridge will be pulled out piece by piece, lowered to the ground and demolished, said Damir Muhurdarevic, the city\u2019s bridge projects engineer.<\/p>\n
The demolition will proceed in 15-minute intervals to work around the trains, which will continue operating.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham (centre) was on hand to watch the start of the historic bridge\u2019s removal, talking to media with some city councillors on hand (from left) Janice Lukes, Ross Eadie and Vivian Santos. (Mike Deal \/ Free Press)<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a challenge, the logistics of the operations of the railroad yard is complicated beyond anything I\u2019ve ever experienced,\u201d Muhurdarevic said.<\/p>\n The demolition of the bridge above the rail yard will be completed by the end of August.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a very intricate project, you can appreciate there\u2019s over 50 sets of tracks that this bridge spans that are active,\u201d said Gillingham. \u201cAnd so to take the bridge down is going to take some time.\u201d<\/p>\n No full road closures are anticipated during the first phase of work. Traffic in the area of Logan Avenue and Arlington Street will be \u201cintermittently affected,\u201d the city said.<\/p>\n It has been difficult to get from the North End into central Winnipeg in the near-three years the bridge has been blocked off, said Darrell Warren, the president of the William Whyte Neighbourhood Association. He said the closure has also created regular traffic bottlenecks.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Span 15 of the Arlington Bridge is the first to be removed during the two-year demolition project Thursday morning. (Mike Deal \/ Free Press)<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s one of our main arteries, the Arlington Bridge, always was,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd now that it\u2019s gone, McPhillips (Street) or Main Street and (the Slaw Rebchuk Bridge) is carrying the breadth of it all and causing a lot of traffic havoc there.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s happy to see the project moving, but is worried that, without a timeline for when the new bridge may be funded and constructed, the wait could stretch many more years.<\/p>\n \u201cWho knows, it could be two years or maybe 10 years, or maybe never, I don\u2019t know,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n City council approved $17 million to decommission and remove the bridge in January 2025, and $5 million to begin designing a new bridge.<\/p>\n Design work and funding to construct a new bridge will be considered by council in the future.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t Public works chair Coun. Janice Lukes won\u2019t be around for those considerations \u2014 she announced she would not seek a fourth term last month \u2014 but said the project, like any other that requires buy-in from the provincial and federal governments, comes with \u201chigh anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe real question is, where does it fit in the list of the city priorities of bridges? \u2026 There\u2019s only so many hundreds of millions to go around, even from other levels of government, right?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe good news is, we\u2019ll have the design and everything all ready, because we\u2019re refining the design.\u201d<\/p>\n The city has suggested constructing the new bridge could take four to five years once it is funded.<\/p>\n malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Malak Abas Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg\u2019s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe bridge was built in 1912 and closed suddenly in November 2023 due to structural issues. (Mike Deal \/ Free Press)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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