Golden Ears Bridge to open early

The new Golden Ears Bridge east of Vancouver will open about two weeks ahead of schedule, officials with TransLink confirmed Monday.

The bridge was originally expected to open on July 1, but the official opening has now been scheduled for June 14, when a pedestrian-only event is planned for the bridge deck. The bridge is expected to be open to traffic by mid-June.

TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie said the bridge was likely completed early because of an incentive program for the contractor.

"There is an incentive for the contractor to complete the work, because when the bridge goes into service is the time that the contractor starts getting payment for operating and for the capital costs in the bridge," said Hardie.

The six-lane bridge will connect Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows on the north side of the Fraser River with the Trans-Canada Highway on the south side as it runs through Surrey and Langley.

For the first 30 days, the bridge will be free for vehicles, but after that, tolls will range from $2.85 to more than $9, depending on the type of vehicle. The bridge will feature an electronic tolling system rather than toll booths, and regular users will be able to lease a QuickPass transponder to automatically deduct the toll from their account whenever they cross the bridge.

Built for an estimated cost of $808 million and spanning 968 metres, the Golden Ears Bridge will be the longest extradosed cable-stayed bridge in North America, according to TransLink, the regional transit authority overseeing the project. An extradosed bridge combines the cable support from its towers with the ridge structure of the bridge platform to support itself.