New Westminster and Coquitlam reach agreement on replacement for the Braid Street Bailey Bridge
 

New Westminster, BC – An agreement has been reached between the City of New Westminster and the City of Coquitlam on the replacement for the Braid Street Bailey Bridge.

The existing structure, which crosses the Brunette River near the Braid Street industrial area, will be replaced with two single-lane Bailey Bridges to provide for two-way traffic flow. One span will also include pedestrian and bicycle pathways.

A single-lane bridge has been acquired by the City of New Westminster and will be used for one of the crossings. The BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has agreed to provide on loan a second bridge. The total cost of this replacement will be shared by both cities, and is estimated at approximately $1.2 million, including the cost of the Ministry-supplied bridge to be paid after three years.

“This was a challenging, yet important review process that took much into consideration,” said New Westminster Acting-Mayor Jonathan Cote.  “With this agreement with the City of Coquitlam, we can now complete the restoration of this access point to the Braid Street industrial area.”

“We have long maintained that the Braid Street Bridge is an important piece of the region’s transportation network, and we know that many businesses on both sides of the Brunette River count on this corridor for goods movement,” said Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart. “I look forward to working with the City of New Westminster on this, and moving forward together on this issue.”

The previous one-lane Bailey Bridge crossing was closed to vehicular traffic in March 2014 when an engineering inspection deemed it structurally unsound. Work on installation of the two bridges will commence immediately and is expected to be complete in mid-September. Until a replacement bridge is operational, the crossing will be closed to all traffic including cyclist and pedestrian traffic.

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Contacts:  

Jim Lowrie, Director of Engineering
City of New Westminster
604-527-4589 or

Jamie Umpleby, Director of Public Works
City of Coquitlam
604-927-3502 or