Weekend Harbour Bridge lane closure ‘took us by surprise’: city

Frustration from motorists and at least one Saint John councillor after unannounced lane closures on Harbour Bridge.

The busy four-lane bridge has been down to two lanes since April as work continues on a multi-year rehabilitation project.

But on Sunday, one of those two lanes was unexpectedly shut down as crews performed lane sweeping and cleaning.

Coun. Greg Norton said there was no communication from the province, which owns the bridge, about the lane closure.

“Delays were recorded anywhere between 40 minutes and 10 minutes, depending on when you arrived in that line-up,” Norton said during Monday’s council meeting.

“So with that, we know there’s only so many ways across the [Saint John] Harbour.”

Harbour Bridge is one of two bridges — the other being the Reversing Falls Bridge — that connects the east and west sides of the city.

Lack of notice ‘clearly an omission by somebody’: commissioner

“The events of Sunday took us by surprise. They may have even taken DTI [Department of Transportation and Infrastructure] by surprise,” said Michael Hugenholtz, the city’s public works and transportation commissioner.

“I think that that was clearly an omission by somebody to have that lane closure without any notice at all.”

Hugenholtz said staff will be following up with DTI to see what provisions are in place to prevent this from happening again.

“Are there going to be penalties issued to the contractor in this case? Or should there be thoughts about adding that in future years if this sort of thing does happen again?” he said.

All 4 lanes to reopen within days

A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure said the contractor is in the process of demobilizing from the construction site for the season.

Jason Hoyt said the sweeping and cleaning requiring a lane closure was done in preparation for reopening to four lanes of traffic, which is still anticipated for Nov. 30.

“The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure notes that delays are expected for traffic in both directions approaching the bridge at all times during active construction phases, and until the bridge returns to full lanes,” Hoyt said in an email.

Project’s price tag more than doubles

The province also revealed that the rehabilitation work is expected to take longer and cost more than originally planned.

The four-phase project, which began in 2021 and was expected to continue through 2026, had an initial price tag of around $26 million.

Hoyt said the estimated cost for the entire project now stands at $61 million and work is expected to continue into 2027.

However, there is some good news for drivers who use the bridge and have faced traffic impacts over the past several years.

While lane closures will be in place again next year from April to November, Hoyt said traffic will not be impacted in 2026 and 2027 as work will be taking place on the bridge’s underside.