A major thoroughfare in Burnaby, closed for repairs and safety improvements since July, won’t reopen as planned.
Drive BC confirms the westbound Kensington offramp on Highway 1 will not reopen at the end of the month as the provincial Ministry of Transportation had promised.
The work to address “pavement settlement issues” is now set to conclude Sept. 9, and another update on the situation isn’t expected for two weeks.
1130 NewsRadio Traffic Reporter Alex Carrigan says when the closure began, it caused significant delays.
“It didn’t take long for traffic to normalize for commuters to get away from that using either Gaglardi or Willingdon, but the big issue was the new traffic that didn’t know people would take that route every day. They adjusted very quickly. Some of the weekend commuters, especially, were very surprised by that — and when it first happened during the first week of July, we did see a few more crashes,” said Carrigan.
He says the off-ramp was built on swampland and the pavement had become bumpy for drivers, necessitating repairs. Carrigan adds that the summer months were ideal for the work to take place.
“This was the time to get it done. Sure, they could have been doing it a little bit more overnight, but this was the time for that work to get done, and they wanted to do it right now.”
To the east, the project to replace the Pattullo Bridge is two years behind schedule and coming in at a cost of just over $1.6 billion.
Carrigan says he’s skeptical the project will achieve its goal of lightening traffic.
“The bridge needs to be replaced, but it’s still going to be two lanes in each direction. The City of Surrey, of course, was all in on getting three lanes; the City of New West[minster] didn’t want to do a lot of upgrades to McBride,” he explained.
Carrigan says the new, wider lanes will at least help to improve traffic flow for big trucks.
Related:
He says delays, like with the Kensington offramp, are unlikely at this time.
“The Patullo Bridge project has already been extended once, and they are hoping to reopen it sometime in the fall of 2025, so we’ve got our fingers crossed that that one is on schedule. It could be delayed again, but we’re really hoping that it does actually open in fall of 2025. For now, everything is on track, and everything looks to be set to reopen very soon.”
Meanwhile, construction of the Broadway Subway Project in Vancouver has reached a new milestone. Carrigan says the barriers at Main Street and Quebec Street have been removed.
“It couldn’t have happened soon enough. Now traffic flow is going to be better of course, but it’s been a real drain on some of these local businesses.”
He explains that construction along Broadway, also plagued by delays, has choked foot and vehicle traffic to street-facing businesses.
“This project is not scheduled to wrap up until late into 2027, and we are hoping for a big improvement then. But as of right now, this traffic is just again getting pushed a little further west as we’re still seeing multiple lane closures at all times of the day.”
—With files from Sonia Aslam
Listen live to 1130 NewsRadio Vancouver every 10 minutes on the ones for traffic updates. You can also follow us on X @NewsRadioVAN and subscribe to Traffic Alerts as they happen, sent directly to your inbox.