Planned overnight closures of Pattullo Bridge traffic from Surrey into New Westminster on two nights this week have been cancelled.
Pattullo Bridge was scheduled to be closed to northbound traffic Wednesday and Thursday (July 2-3), from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., due to ongoing construction work for the bridge replacement project.
An information bulletin issued Monday, June 30 notes that overnight work is no longer required, so the bridge will remain open for northbound traffic after all.
"These closures are needed to safely install an expansion joint connecting the new bridge deck to the bridge approach in Surrey," said an earlier memo from the transportation authority. "Construction equipment will be positioned near both northbound lanes on the existing bridge, making a full closure necessary."
Meantime, the new Pattullo Bridge will have a new Indigenous name when it opens later this year high above Fraser River.
As part of a "cultural recognition program," Musqueam Indian Band and Kwantlen First Nation are "bestowing the people of British Columbia a name for the new bridge in the h蓹n虛q虛蓹min虛蓹m虛 language," according to a June 17 news release from B.C.'s Ministry of Transportation and Transit.
"More details about the name will be shared in the coming months."
Opened in 1937, the original bridge was named after Thomas Dufferin Pattullo, 22nd Premier of British Columbia.
The project site overlaps with the boundaries of two former reserves once located in the village of qiq茅yt [kee-KATE], Musqueam Indian Reserve #1 and Kwantlen Indian Reserve #8, Farnworth notes in his memo.
