Arlington Bridge design plans considered

Winnipeg is considering new design plans for the Arlington Bridge as the aging structure nears the end of its lifespan.

In December 2014, a review by the city found the bridge over the Canadian Pacific Railway yards unsafe for drivers and recommended it be decommission by 2020.

This March, the city allocated $2 million for a preliminary bridge replacement study. The city committee on infrastructure renewal and public works met Tuesday to look at the study results and two possible ideas for replacing the bridge, both projected to cost roughly the same amount.

• Winnipeg's Arlington Bridge confirmed to close by 2020
• Aging Arlington Bridge should be turned into lively community hub, Winnipegger says

The city estimates construction will begin in 2020 and a new bridge will cost just over $300 million. Both options the city is eyeing have two phases, with the first focused on replacing the bridge in the short term.

The second phase, based on assumptions about population growth by 2030, would expand the McPhillips Street underpass or develop an additional crossing between McGregor Street and Sherbrook Street to relieve traffic congestion.

New location recommended

Building the bridge in a new location in the Canadian Pacific Railway yards is recommended as the best, most community-friendly of the two options, although CP would have to agree to remove its L-Lead line for the proposed location. That project would take three years to complete, but the old bridge would remain open to traffic for two of those years.

The second option would be to build in the existing location, which would force the closure of the crossing for about one construction season. The report emphasizes that would also cause traffic and transportation issues in the neighbourhood.

"There [are] negligible [cost] implications anticipated for constructing the bridge off-line and keeping traffic open for two of the three construction years if the L-Lead line can be abandoned, relative to the option of building on the existing alignment and closing the crossing for the entire construction period," the report states.

Protected bike lanes

The new bridge would have two northbound lanes, one southbound lane and "uni-directional protected bike lanes" on both sides of the bridge, the report states. Currently, there are no bike lanes on the bridge.

"The bridge should be sufficiently wide to accommodate four lanes in the future as the structure life is 75 years," the report states.

It remains to be seen exactly how long the span will be closed once construction begins, but the city said it will "strive to develop engineering plans that will reduce the duration of the full closure of the crossing to all modes of transportation to approximately one construction season," regardless of which of the two options is approved.

Trying to rush the job so the crossing is blocked for less than one construction season could push costs up 15 per cent to 30 per cent, according to the city.

'Vital link'

"It was recognized early in this study that the Arlington Bridge provided a vital link for the local community in daily activities for all modes of transportation and was also required to sustain today's traffic capacity needs," the city said.

The report also states that postponing the project would mean spending more money on maintaining the existing deteriorating bridge. It also says removing the bridge for an extended period during construction "will have significant socioeconomic impacts on communities surrounding the bridge."

The city wants input from Winnipeggers while it studies the new designs and plans to host a series of open houses to give taxpayers a chance to weigh in.