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Officials partially reopened the Queensborough Bridge in time for the evening rush hour after an early morning electrical fire shut down the span connecting New Westminster with Queensborough and beyond.

The City of New Westminster reopened northbound lanes just after 1:30 p.m. One southbound lane was reopened around 2:30 p.m. Pedestrian access remained limited to the east side of the bridge.

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The morning closure caused rush-hour madness across the Lower Mainland during Wednesday’s commute, with many people forced to scramble for alternate routes.

New West Mayor Jonathan Cote said crews were still on site assessing the damage around noon, nearly 12 hours after the fire started.

“There’s no doubt this incident has created significant disruption,” Cote said of having to close a bridge that carries about 80,000 vehicles daily. “Our priority right now is the residents in Queensborough, who are without power and making sure that things are in place to deal with, potentially, a long power outage.”