VANCOUVER -- Long-suffering Vancouver motorists, who have been forced to navigate through a seemingly-endless and growing map of highrise construction, lane and road closures, bridge upgrades and sewer and water main replacements, aren’t going to get relief anytime soon, especially if they use Burrard Bridge.

That’s because the city has decided to shut down another lane of the bridge starting Monday in order to undertake a $5.2 million repair job on the 81-year-old structure. And starting in March, another of the five vehicle lanes will be shut down, leaving just one lane southbound and two northbound. The closure will remain in effect through spring and most of the summer, with all lanes back in service Aug. 1.

Both of the bike lanes and the pedestrian walk will be left open, but the city says motorists can divert to the eight-lane Granville Bridge instead.

The significant reduction in roadway for vehicle commuters comes while the city is still in the middle of a $6-million project to redirect and narrow portions of Cornwall Avenue at the south end of the bridge in order to install the Point Grey bike lane. The city has already permanently shut down a portion of Point Grey Road at MacDonald to allow for the bike lane, diverting traffic on to Fourth Avenue and Broadway.

The newest reconstruction project involves the city replacing 27 bearings and 19 expansion joints on the Burrard Bridge. In November council awarded a contract to a Delta company to undertake the work.

In a report to council last summer, city engineers said the Burrard and Granville bridges, the oldest in the city, have had more than $26 million in rehabilitation and maintenance work over the last 20 years.

The new repairs are necessary because of the bridge’s age, said Jerry Dobrovolny, the city’s director of transportation. Over coming years the Burrard Bridge will need a lot more work, he said, and future plans call for the repair and rehabilitation of the sidewalks and railings.

Dobrovolny said he sympathizes with motorists who are frustrated with the amount of construction and road repairs going on in the city. Vancouver’s engineering department tries to coordinate projects in such a way that it minimizes disruptions, he said, but there is no way of getting around a major disruption on Burrard Bridge simply because the work is so extensive.

Dobrovolny says it may seem like the city is undergoing a lot more construction than in the past, but that is not really the case. “I used to have an old Norris cartoon on my wall from 30 years ago that showed a bunch of city construction workers standing around downtown looking at a map,” he said. “The quote from one of them was ‘You’ve left one of the streets open. Better make sure you close it.’”

Vision Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs also stressed the work is necessary. “I don’t know what the alternative is,” he said. “It is not driven by anything other than the need to keep Burrard Bridge in top shape. Obviously (the closure) is not ideal, but it has to be done.”

A complete list of road closures and diversions can be found on the city’s website at www.vancouver.ca/roadwork. However, it doesn’t include any of the periodic lane closures granted to construction companies building office and residential towers.

jefflee@vancouversun.com

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