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WATCH: Fred Cummings of TransLink on upgrades to the Pattullo Bridge

The Pattullo Bridge will likely not be replaced any time soon, but TransLink is moving ahead with substantial upgrades to one of the Lower Mainland’s busiest overpasses. Here are three things you need to know.

How long will the Pattullo Bridge repairs take?

According to TransLink VP Fred Cummings, they hope to begin repairs on the bridge in the summer of 2015. Commuters could expect “two years of impacts” on traffic, although there is the possibility that upgrades could take just 12 to 18 months to complete.

Cummings says TransLink is still looking at how they plan to approach repairs.

“We’re looking at everything from closing one lane to having overnight closures or having complete weekend closures,” he says. “Each one has its own timeline.”

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New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote says he prefers a shorter timeline.

“Personally I kind of liken it to taking off a Band-Aid,” says Cote. “I think having a larger disruption over a shorter period of time would be better for the transportation system as opposed to something that’s long, drawn out that is causing disruption for a very long period of time.”

What sort of repairs are being made?

Cummings says they plan to make seismic upgrades and repair the bridge’s deck.

Crews will install seismic bearings, increase the strength of some of the steel and wrap some of the piers in concrete.

Workers will also repair the deck of the bridge. “The program that will impact traffic the most will be the rehabilitation of the deck,” says Cummings. “That’s where we’re actually taking the top four inches of concrete off the deck and replacing that.”

Will tolls be lowered on the Port Mann Bridge during the upgrades?

The repairs could cause lengthy delays for commuters and impact traffic on the nearby Port Mann Bridge. Some, including Cote, are asking TransLink to ease tolls on other bridges to ease the financial burden on commuters.

Cummings says it’s too soon to tell if lowered tolls might be in the works, adding that they’ll have a better idea once they have a preferred construction plan sometime in February or March.

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“It’s too early to say, because we don’t understand right now where traffic will go and what the impacts will be on those other bridges,” he says.

WATCH: New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote on the Pattullo Bridge