Edmonton's Groat Road Bridge to reopen fully Sunday
Rehabilitation project finishes on time and on budget, city says
After a 2½-year rehabilitation project, Edmonton's Groat Road Bridge will fully re-open to traffic on Sunday.
The bridge was reduced to one lane in either direction for more than two years during the project, while the pedestrian walkway operated with limited capacity.
"With the work we have done, this major arterial roadway and bridge can continue to ensure that travellers can cross the river efficiently and safely for another 50 years," Sam El Mohtar, the city's director of transportation infrastructure delivery, said in a news release Thursday.
Built in 1955, the bridge over the North Saskatchewan River was last rehabilitated in 1990.
This time, the project stretched from 87th Avenue all the way north across the river to Victoria Park Road, including overpasses on both sides. The bridge deck itself was demolished and removed.
The project finished on time and on budget with a total construction cost of $55 million, the release said.
Original projections had pegged the project cost at $48-million, but the original projections did not account for the total cost of construction, city officials said Thursday.
The bridge will return to four lanes of traffic. It will have a wider 4.2-metre shared-use path on the east side.
Workers will remain on site through November, possibly into December, to wrap up the project, with occasional closures during off-peak hours.