Edmonton's High Level Bridge to close for repairs in 2027 after storm damage

EDMONTON · The City of Edmonton says the High Level Bridge must undergo urgent repairs in 2027 after sustaining damage from severe storms this past summer. The one-way southbound bridge, which carries 24,000 to 27,000 vehicles per day, will be fully closed to traffic during the entire construction season from spring to late fall. The city will combine these repairs with the bridge's planned rehabilitation, moving that work up by a year to minimize overall disruption. Landslides and erosion from the record rainfall in June and July affected the river valley slopes next to the bridge.

"We know that another major bridge closure will be disruptive for people travelling through Edmonton and is not a closure we want to undertake, but it’s necessary work to maintain the bridge and address slope stabilisation needs," said Sara Nichols, deputy city manager of Infrastructure Services. She said the bridge remains safe to use for now as staff continue inspections. Mayor Andrew Knack said the closure is not welcome news but praised city administration for pivoting quickly to align the projects. Knack said city staff are going to make sure they treat the project with significant prioritization, ensuring workers are there as many hours of the day as possible to get the work done on time and safely. Completing both the urgent repairs and the rehabilitation in one season instead of two will reduce the total duration and number of closures, the city said. Nichols added that by combining the work, the city will "reduce the total duration and number of closures overall."

Work in 2027 will include repairs to bridge components such as bearings, substructure components on land, the deck surface and structural drainage. A column in the middle of the west sidewalk will also be removed to improve safety and the experience for people walking and cycling across the bridge. Pedestrian access will be maintained when possible, with detours and alternative routes shared in advance. The specific traffic detour plan has not yet been determined and will be released once confirmed.

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Knack said the city will analyze all options to manage traffic, including potentially using two-way traffic on the Walterdale Bridge and increasing transit frequency. He said all options have to be on the table to make sure people are moved. "No matter any other solution we can create, there’s still going be an impact," he said. To accommodate the updated timeline and reduce pressure on other downtown bridges, planned rehabilitation of the northbound Low Level Bridge lanes has been moved from 2027 to 2028.

The 113-year-old steel bridge has surpassed the typical bridge life expectancy of 75 to 100 years. The city said earlier this year that a more fulsome rehabilitation would exceed $1 billion, a cost deemed not feasible, so the bridge needs to be replaced in the next dozen or so years. The work next year is required to extend the bridge's life while long-term replacement planning moves forward. "This work is required in order to get the additional years out of the High Level Bridge as we plan for and eventually replace (it)," Nichols said.

Planning, design and construction of a new bridge are slated for 2031 to 2039. The High Level Bridge was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway between 1910 and 1913 and was designated a municipal historic resource in 1995. City council would need to repeal that historical designation to decommission the bridge, a step taken only three times since 1982. The city said some funding for the High Level repairs would come from the province through its Hazard Assistance and Resilience Program.

With files from Global News, CityNews and CBC News