FAQs
Timeline:
Q: How soon will the work begin on the Johnson Street Bridge?
A: The City is now laying the ground work for this large and complex project. Careful planning is required to ensure that this project is well managed and completed on time and on budget. The City has developed a Project Charter which outlines the project scope, schedule, and budget as well as a construction and delivery strategy and significant risk and mitigation strategies for the Johnson Street Bridge Project. Some visible changes to the site will begin to occur in the fall of 2011 to prepare the site for construction of the new bridge.
Q: When are you planning to finish the new bridge?
A: The new Johnson Street Bridge will take four years to complete and must be completed by March 31, 2016 which is the deadline for projects funded under the federal Building Canada Fund.
Transportation During/ After Construction:
Q: I walk/cycle/drive the Johnson Street Bridge daily. How will I get downtown?
A: Construction of the new bridge will occur slightly to the north of the existing bridge. This allows the existing road bridge to remain open to minimize impacts to businesses and the travelling public. However, some minor lane or minimal full bridge closures may be required for short durations to accommodate the need to move materials or equipment.
During required closures, the City will recommend alternate routes through the website and the local media. We will also provide more information about alternate forms of transportation.
Once the new bridge is built there will be dedicated cycle lanes on both sides of bridge deck, and cyclists will be able to use a new multi-use trail to cross the bridge.
There will also be a dedicated pedestrian deck which will allow for better south views to the Inner Harbour and a more pleasant pedestrian experience across the bridge.
Q: Why has the City closed the rail bridge?
A: The rail bridge was closed for safety reasons after a structural inspection of the Johnson Street Bridge found deterioration in key vertical steel support columns on the rail bridge.
Q: I regularly walked/rode across the rail portion of the bridge. How will I get across now that the rail bridge is closed?
A: This fall, a traffic signal will be installed at the Harbour Road intersection to better support cyclist and pedestrians during construction of the new bridge. In the mean time, an alternate route plan is in place to allow cyclists and pedestrians to cross the rail trestle giving them safe access to the sidewalk and the south side of the road bridge.
Cyclists have the option of either walking bikes on the sidewalk or cycling across the bridge on the roadway. Existing on-road options remain available for cyclists. Please follow the signs to direct you towards the alternate routes.
Q: Will marine vessels be able to access the Upper Harbour during construction?
A: Yes. The bridge sits over a federal waterway and the Navigable Waterway Protection Act mandates that the bridge must remain open to marine traffic at all times. The Upper Harbour is a working harbour supporting an important local industry. There are no expected periods of closure where marine vessels will not be able to pass under the bridge. If access must be restricted temporarily to accommodate the Project, it will be coordinated with upper harbour marine users and the Harbour Master.
Q: Does the new bridge include provisions for accessibility for people with mobility issues: wheelchairs, strollers, walkers?
A: The new bridge will include a widened sidewalk for increase accessibility for wheelchairs, strollers and pedestrians. There will also be a multi-use path to accommodate pedestrians, cyclists and those who use devices which aid in mobility. The grating found on the current bridge will be eliminated. In addition, the curves and grades will be reduced in the approaches to the bridge, making it much easier to access the new bridge.
Q: Will the new bridge be safe in the event of a natural disaster?
A: The safety of the travelling public is top of mind. Council has decided to seismic upgrade the bridge to be a lifeline structure, which means it would be able to withstand an 8.5 magnitude earthquake. This is the highest standard in the current bridge design code for Canada.
Q: What will be included in this new bridge?
A: The new Johnson Street Bridge will include:
- Three lanes of vehicle traffic maintained
- On-street bike lanes
- Dedicated pedestrian walkway
- Multi-use trail
- Improved access for all modes at east and west approaches
- Built to lifeline seismic standard
- Improved alignment on both sides of the bridge with a new signal at Harbour and Esquimalt Road
- 30km/h posted speed limit retained
- 100 year design life
- Meets historic/aesthetic guidelines
- The new bridge will be built to the north of the existing bridge which allows traffic to continue using the existing road bridge during construction.
Q: Why is rail not included in the new bridge?
Council is committed to seeing commuter rail come into downtown but feels that it should not be financed solely by City of Victoria taxpayers. Since rail serves the entire region, they feel that rail should be funded by the region and/or another level of government.
When Victoria citizens were surveyed about the Johnson Street Bridge, they ranked rail as the least important in comparison with other elements, and costs were ranked as the most important. The decision was made that the City would not borrow funds for rail on the new Johnson Street Bridge. Removing rail from the new bridge design reduced the overall costs of replacing the bridge by $12 million.
The City of Victoria will continue to preserve the rail corridor through the Official Community Plan and if funding is made available - and rail service resumes on Vancouver Island - a separate rail bridge can still be added at a later date.
Rail service between Victoria and Courtenay is currently not running after an inspection of the tracks early this year by Southern Railway of Vancouver Island, the BC Safety Authority, VIA Rail and the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure found that significant infrastructure improvements would be required. On Sunday, August 7, 2011, VIA Rail ended its temporary bus service between Victoria and Courtenay.
In June 2011, the B.C. government announced $7.5 million in funding for the Island Corridor Foundation towards immediate repairs and track improvements; however, this funding is conditional on similar funding coming from the federal government in order to complete the repairs.
Funding and Costs:
Q: What will it cost to replace the bridge?
A: The class “C” estimate for replacing the Johnson Street Bridge including improved road approaches without a rail crossing is $77 million. The federal government has approved funding up to $21 million through the Building Canada Fund towards this project. The City has reprioritized other budgetary expenditures to take advantage of the bridge construction period, which further reduces the funds needed to borrow.
With the federal funding the total cost the City would borrow to replace the bridge would be $49.2 million.
Q: What effect will this project have on my taxes?
A: As a result of significant federal contribution and reprioritizing other City budgetary expenditures there will be no tax increase to Victoria taxpayers related to the Johnson Street Bridge Replacement Project.
Q: What is the Building Canada Fund?
A: The Building Canada Fund is a Federal Government infrastructure program. The Major Infrastructure Components portion of this fund targets larger projects of regional significance. The fund also focuses on projects in communities with populations of less than 100,000. The completion deadline for this fund is March 2016.
Q. What are the maintenance costs for the new bridge going to be?
A: The estimated operating and maintenance costs, also known as lifecycle costs, of the replacement bridge in 2010 dollars is approximately $22 million over its design life of 100 years.
Economy:
Q: How will bridge closures affect downtown businesses?
A: The City supports the economic vitality of the downtown. An Economic Impact Study completed in June 2010 notes that the economic impacts of replacing the bridge will be minimal as there are only minimal closures required since the replacement bridge will be built to the north of the existing road bridge. Traffic will continue using the existing road bridge during construction.
Q: What is the expected economic impact of building the new bridge?
A: Construction of the new bridge will generate approximately 900 jobs and the Urban Development Institute estimates that this project will have economic benefits of approximately half a billion dollars. Letter from the Urban Development Institute
Decision:
Q: What input did Council consider when deciding the future of the Johnson Street Bridge?
City Council decided to borrow $49.2 million to replace the Johnson Street Bridge on August 12, 2010 after reviewing extensive public consultation including:
- over 325 emails or letters;
- personal contact with hundreds of citizens during open houses, at local markets and at the bridge;
- a representative Ipsos-Reid survey of businesses in Downtown Victoria and Victoria West;
- a representative Ipsos-Reid survey of residents of Victoria;
- and 2600 mail-in surveys from Victoria households.
The replacement bridge is estimated to cost $77 million, and is expected to be completed in 2015. The City has secured $21 million in funding from the Federal Government and has reprioritizing other budgetary expenditures to reduce the borrowing amount to $49.2 million.
The new bridge will provide on-road bicycle lanes, a multi-use path, a dedicated pedestrian walkway on the south, realigned road approaches, a connection to a future harbour pathway, widened marine channel, connections to the Galloping Goose and E & N trails, and consolidated green space
