Harbour Bridge To Fully Reopen By Friday: Officials

Months of traffic headaches for thousands of Saint John drivers are about to come to an end – at least for this year.

Officials say construction work along Harbour Bridge in Saint John is now expected to be done by the end of this week.

The means another day or two of two-lane traffic on the bridge, which handles thousands of vehicles a day travelling along Route 1.

All four lanes of the span were anticipated to reopen no later than Tuesday or Wednesday after weeks of unexpected delays.

Mark Taylor, a spokesperson with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, said Wednesday that the work is “wrapping up.”

Taylor said crews are completing paving operations on the eastbound lanes, where this year’s portion of the work was taking place.

Crews also plan to patch up some potholes on the westbound lanes before fully reopening the bridge, he said.

Taylor said four-lane traffic will be flowing once again on the bridge no later than end-of-day Friday.

This year’s phase of the multi-year rehabilitation project started in early June and was originally supposed to be finished in mid-October.

Work has included removing certain expansion joints and replacing them with link slabs “to eliminate the ongoing maintenance issues they create.”

Other work has involved repairing concrete beams, replacing concrete blocks, deck waterproofing application and new asphalt concrete.

Construction has been taking place on the western end of the eastbound lanes, forcing eastbound traffic to be diverted to the westbound passing lane. The Chesley Drive eastbound off-ramp and westbound on-ramp were also closed as a result.

Officials say work on the westbound lanes at the western end of the structure is scheduled for 2022.