Saint John Harbour Bridge

Saint John Harbour Bridge, October 2006

The Saint John Harbour Bridge is a hollow box, haunched girder bridge crossing Saint John Harbour at the mouth of the Saint John River in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.

History

Saint John's industrial and residential growth required a second bridge over the Saint John River by the mid-20th century. The Reversing Falls Bridge was inadequate for handling modern traffic growth, however concern over where a new highway and bridge would cross the river frustrated the project for many years. On May 1, 1961 the city's Common Council appointed a 6-member citizens' committee which then directed various studies and discussions.

On April 13, 1962 the New Brunswick legislature passed an act to establish a Saint John Harbour Bridge Authority that would build, maintain and operate a toll bridge crossing Saint John Harbour. Contracts for the four main piers were signed in September 1965 and the crossing opened on August 17, 1968 as part of the Saint John Throughway project.

The bridge's location proved quite controversial as it prevents high-clearance vessels from navigating into the upper part of the harbour. Earlier proposals had called for the Saint John Throughway and its bridge to be built north of the Reversing Falls gorge. Construction of the bridge also drew to a close the status of Navy Island as an island within the Inner Harbour.

The bridge carries 4 lanes of Route 1 across 3 spans, measuring 125 m, 250 m, and 125 m. The bridge was a cooperative project of the federal, provincial and municipal governments.

The Harbour Bridge Authority increased the cash-toll from $0.25 to $0.50 for regular commuter traffic beginning January, 2007. This is the first rate increase since the bridge was built.

On November 26, 2010 Stephen Harper and David Alward officially announced the toll for the bridge will be eliminated. The agreement wipes away the $22.6 million dollar debt and the Federal Government is willing to pay for half of the $35 million dollar structural repairs.

As of April 1, 2011, just before 4pm, the tolls were abolished.

Upkeep

Today, more than forty years after the bridge was built, it is in dire need of more than $35 million worth of repairs. Currently, the three levels of government are negotiating the project's financing.

Without the necessary repairs, the Harbour Bridge Authority has warned it will need to close two lanes of traffic and impose weight restrictions on the bridge, greatly inhibiting traffic flow during commute times as well as posing as a problem to transports coming to and from the bordering state of Maine.

External links

• Harbour Bridge Authority