Salmon River Bridge Closure this Weekend
Prince George, B.C. – If you are planning on travelling to or from Prince George on highway 97 north this weekend, you need to know the Salmon River Bridge will be closed for a time.
On Saturday, the 19th, the bridge will be closed from 10 pm to 6 am the following morning to allow crews to move it from its current location to the detour location.
The detour crossing will be in place until the new bridge is completed, but even after it has been moved, traffic can expect there will be, at times, single lane alternating flow .
Plans are in place to allow emergency vehicles to cross should there be an emergency.
The new bridge will have two full lanes, highway shoulders and a pedestrian crossing. It is expected to be completed in the fall of next year.
Comments
An oft heard refrain that I completely agree with:
“Why didn’t they make it 4 lanes?
metalman.
because the government likes to waste money
It would be cost prohibitive. They’d have to widen not only the bridge but the highway on both sides.
Does the traffic warrant a 4 lane bridge? I don’t think so but I’m no expert.
I see your point axman, but spending the money now, in 2016 dollars, makes more sense to me.
I believe that a 4 lane, if not needed now, will be needed in the future.
After all, the actual road widening would be less than 2 kilometres, from the existing and now new bridge south, to where the highway was widened to 3 lanes a couple of years ago. Going north, the hill is already 3 lanes wide. Of course a new bridge would be required at Wright Creek.
metalman.
By the time traffic warrants 4 lanes the new bridge will probably need to be replaced. If in the unlikely event traffic volumes increase to the point it becomes necessary they can simply twin the existing bridge. The fact is there is no need for 4 laning Hwy 97 north any time soon. A bit of straightening of some sections of the road would be nice, particularly north of Mackenzie Junction. Might be able to make a case for another passing lane or two or extending the 4 lanes from Chief Lake Rd to Old Summit Lake Rd but beyond that the existing 2 lane configuration is all that will be needed for the next few decades. That’s coming from someone who has travelled the route regularly over the past dozen years.
I believe highway 97 at this portion doesn’t need to be 4 lanes and would be a complete waste of money. I travel this highway a lot each month. It wasn’t needed the last 25 years and it won’t be needed in the next 20 years either and I’ve never ran into any issues with this spot. The bridge needs to be replaced and that’s good enough. Just not enough traffic heading north or south.
Would be nice to have a passing lane heading south at the hill just north of the Salmon Forest Service Road. No passing lane for fifty kilometres leading up to that spot then people get impatient and like to try pass on a blind hill.
Some good points made there re: 4 lane.
I was on a brief tour of the site today, the contractor (Surespan) is well organized. It looks to me that moving the old bridge should go very smoothly, they have prepared well.
metalman.
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