FAQs

On Friday, May 17, 2013, the Honourable Ron Cannan, Member of Parliament for Kelowna—Lake Country, joined City of Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin and Sean Brock, Vice President and District Manager of PCL Constructors Westcoast Inc., to officially kick off the start of construction at the Johnson Street Bridge site in downtown Victoria.

Construction of the new bridge will be completed over the next two and a half years. The existing bridge is expected to remain open throughout  construction.

PCL Constructors Westcoast is currently recruiting locally for carpenters, iron workers, welders, surveyors, and crane operators to work on the new bridge.

The first visible bridge construction will start in June when the first of two temporary trestles will be built in-water, on the north side of the bridge. These trestles will support cranes and equipment that will be used to build the new bridge.

In July, underground utility work will occur on both sides of the bridge as crews realign and upgrade century old water, sewer, and storm pipes in the area.

While the existing bridge is expected to remain open throughout  construction, some impacts such as traffic delays and detours, noise, and visible impacts from construction will be unavoidable at times. This website will be kept up-to-date throughout the project with the latest information.

PCL Constructors Westcoast’s contract includes the construction of the new bascule lift bridge with three vehicle lanes, on-road bike lanes, a multi-use trail for pedestrians and cyclists, and a pedestrian pathway on the south side. PCL’s contract also includes decommissioning of the old bridge once the new bridge is complete, construction of improved road alignments and traffic calming features on both sides of the bridge, installation of a signalized intersection at Harbour and Esquimalt Roads, widened sidewalks and pathways leading to the bridge with links to existing and future pathways and trails, public viewing and plazas areas on the east and west sides, and landscaping.

In addition, PCL will also construct a retaining wall on the City’s adjacent property on Harbour Road. The City decided to construct a retaining wall rather than a traditional sloped berm in order to maximize the usable City owned lands on the west side of the new bridge. This work is not necessary as part of the bridge project but is cost effective to do now while working in the area. Consistent with lease improvements to City-owned properties, the cost of building the retaining wall will be funded from the tax sale land reserve and will be recovered from the increased lease revenue realized in future as a result of the land improvements.

The contractor (PCL Constructors Westcoast) is responsible for securing all subcontractors, trades and crews for delivering the contract and is currently recruiting tradespersons including carpenters, iron workers, welders, surveyors, and crane operators to work on the Johnson Street Bridge. PCL is also recruiting locally for sub-contractors and suppliers. Please contact PCL Constructors Westcoast directly if you are interested in working on the project.

There are few suppliers or fabricators of moveable bridges in North America, and the City understands the steel fabrication will occur in China, and the concrete supply will be from Vancouver Island.

Local hotels, restaurants and adjacent businesses are also expected to benefit from construction. The Urban Development Institute estimates that construction of the new bridge will have long-term local economic benefits in excess of $500 million. This includes economic benefits from new development and overall revitalization of the area. Based on the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ calculation for short-term job creation per million dollars of infrastructure investment, about 900 short-term jobs are expected as a result of this project.

In order to undertake a project of this magnitude and complexity, the City retained MMM Group to provide the engineering services for design and project management of the work through to completion. The MMM Group is a large Canadian engineering firm with experience and expertise in moveable bridges.

The existing bridge will remain open to pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles throughout construction. Crews will be building the new bridge slightly to the north of the existing bridge, allowing the bridge to remain open until the new bridge is complete.

While the existing bridge is expected to remain open throughout construction, some impacts such as traffic delays and detours will be unavoidable at times. The City will provide as much advance notice as possible regarding impacts and recommend alternate routes to allow commuters to plan accordingly.

While crews will make every effort to minimize construction impacts, some impacts such as traffic delays, detours, and noise will be unavoidable at times.

Every effort will be made to provide advance notice whenever possible and keep neighbours, businesses, commuters, and marine users informed about expected impacts resulting from construction activity. The project team will consult and involve stakeholders most affected by the project in an effort to mitigate impacts, where possible.

The City of Victoria is committed to keeping residents, businesses, and bridge users informed throughout the project. Please contact us if you have a question or concern related to construction at johnsonstreetbridge@victoria.ca or call 250.361.0545.

Access for marine vessels will be maintained throughout construction. The bridge sits over a working harbour supporting an important local industry and the Navigable Waterway Protection Program mandates that the bridge must remain open to marine traffic at all times. If access must be restricted temporarily to accommodate the project, it will be coordinated with upper harbour marine users and the Harbour Master. The new bridge will include an improved navigation channel of 41 metres in accordance with current regulations.

The City of Victoria will oversee the project to ensure that the contracts are delivered according to their terms and that citizens receive best value for the project. The City is also responsible for the relocation of City services and utilities, management and removal of any contaminated soil, and archeological and geotechnical mitigation and management. The City will provide regular information updates to keep the public and Council informed through to project completion.

Victoria has a rich First Nations history and the bridge is located on an archeologically sensitive site. The City is working with an archeological monitor to conduct on-going testing to ensure the site is treated appropriately. Representative from Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations participate as observers whenever archeological monitoring is taking place.

Years ago the harbour area around the bridge was home to heavy industry. Contaminated soil does exist around the bridge. The City has been working, and will continue to work, with an environmental monitor to ensure the environment and marine life remain protected throughout construction. Any contaminated soil will be removed from the site in accordance with regulations.

In 2009, an assessment of the bridge identified many issues common to other bridges built in the 1920s: extensive corrosion to steel structural beams, and obsolete mechanical and electrical systems. The assessment also noted significant seismic vulnerability. It was determined that a substantial investment in the bridge would be required to avoid further deterioration, increasing operational costs, and possible closure.

Council considered many factors important to the community when determining the bridge’s future. These included safety concerns of the current bridge, heritage values, traffic and business disruptions, and accessibility needs for pedestrians and cyclists. After extensive public consultation, City Council decided to replace the Johnson Street Bridge.

In November 2010, a referendum was held and citizens approved the City of Victoria borrowing of up to $49.2 million towards the replacement of the Johnson Street Bridge. The Government of Canada is providing up to $37.5 million in funding towards the project, including $21 million from the Building Canada Fund and $16.5 million through Canada’s Gas Tax Fund. The Government of Canada has also provided a $10.2 million low-cost infrastructure loan through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Municipal Infrastructure Lending Program.

The overall budget for the replacement of the Johnson Street Bridge is $92.8 million. The Government of Canada is providing up to $37.5 million in funding towards the project, including $21 million from the Building Canada Fund and $16.5 million through Canada’s Gas Tax Fund. The Government of Canada has also provided a $10.2 million low-cost infrastructure loan through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Municipal Infrastructure Lending Program. The remaining bridge replacement costs are funded by the City of Victoria through reallocated capital budgets and electoral-approved borrowing.

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.

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.

As part of the contribution agreement with the federal government for the Building Canada Fund, the City of Victoria must complete both financial and compliance audits over the course of the project. These audits are to be submitted directly to the federal government for review.

Through an open and competitive process, the City of Victoria retained MNP to provide auditing services for the Johnson Street Bridge Project. MNP will be responsible for performing the following audits:

Annual Financial Audit

The City’s contribution agreement with the federal government requires that five annual financial audits be conducted. The key objective of the financial audits is to determine whether information has been presented fairly and coded correctly in the project financial statements. Financial audits will be included in the annual progress report that must be submitted to the federal government each year.

Compliance Audit

The agreement also requires two compliance audits to determine whether funds were expended for the purposes intended and with due regard to economy, efficiency, and effectiveness. Specifically, the compliance audit will:

• determine compliance with the federal agreement
• ensure the project and financial information is complete, accurate and timely, in accordance with the terms and condition of the agreement
• ensure that information and monitoring processes and systems are sufficient for the identification, capture, validation and monitoring of achievement of intended benefits to assess the overall management of the project
• provide recommendation for improvement or redress
• ensure that prompt and timely corrective action is taken on audit findings

As per the City’s contribution agreement with the Federal government, the City will also produce an annual report to report on project progress and expenditures. The most recent report can be found on the Documents and Publications page

The new bridge is expected to open to traffic by the end of 2015. The entire project, including the removal of the existing bridge and creation of  new public plazas areas with seating and landscaping, is expected to be complete by March 2016.

The design and amenities of the bridge are consistent with the plans presented during the 2010 referendum. Although the engineered design has been optimized, it has had minimal effect on the aesthetic or architectural design and the engineering changes are discrete and would go unrecognized by most. Updated drawings will be posted to the website once final designs become available. Original design renderings are available on the Future Johnson Street Bridge page.

The new bridge will incorporate many traffic calming features and provide greater support for alternative transportation. Features include:

• Three lanes of vehicle traffic and 30km/h speed limit will be maintained
• on-road bike lanes in both directions
• a multi-use trail for pedestrians and cyclists on the north side, connecting the Galloping Goose and E&N Regional Trails to downtown
• a pedestrian pathway on the south side, allowing for better views toward downtown and the Inner Harbour and a more pleasant pedestrian experience across the bridge
• Sidewalks will be widened, improving accessibility for pedestrians, wheelchairs, and strollers
• Connections to the future David Foster Way (Harbour Pathway)
• Improved road alignments and access for all modes of transportation at east and west approaches
• The new bridge will be built to lifeline seismic standard with a 100 year service life
• rail corridor preserved

The bascule bridge, piers, and foundation are being built to serve the community for the next 100 years. This includes the multi-use trail, cycling lanes and pedestrian walkway. 

The bridge will be built to a lifeline seismic standard, which means it would be able to withstand an 8.5 magnitude earthquake.  In the event of a significant earthquake, it means it will continue to serve as a lifeline transportation route for emergency vehicles (fire, police, ambulance) and city services such as utilities, road crews, and public transit. This is the highest standard in the current bridge design code for Canada.

Just as a car ages over time and requires regular checkups and servicing, regular inspection and maintenance will be required and any operating parts of the bridge will be replaced as needed to ensure it continues to be safe and functional for the community. An annual maintenance budget will be established for servicing the 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. If funding is made available, 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 in 2011 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. Both the federal and provincial governments have made commitments to fund some of these repairs. It is not know at this time when repairs will be complete or when rail service will resume.

The existing bridge will remain open to pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles throughout construction. Crews will be building the new bridge slightly to the north of the existing bridge, allowing the bridge to remain open until the new bridge is complete.

While the existing bridge is expected to remain open throughout construction, some impacts such as traffic delays and detours will be unavoidable at times. The City will provide as much advance notice as possible regarding impacts and recommend alternate routes to allow commuters to plan accordingly.

Signage has been added to help guide pedestrians and cyclists across the bridge and a traffic signal has been installed at the Harbour Road intersection to better support cyclist and pedestrian access. Cyclists have the option of cycling on the road bridge or walking bikes on the sidewalk. Pedestrians now cross the bridge on the sidewalk on the south side of the bridge. VIEW MAP

Once the new bridge is built there will be on-road bike lanes in both directions. Cyclists will also be able to use a new multi-use trail connecting the Galloping Goose and Lochside Trails into downtown. A pedestrian pathway on the south side will allow for better views toward downtown and the Inner Harbour and a more pleasant pedestrian experience across the bridge.

Access for marine vessels will be maintained throughout construction. The bridge sits over a working harbour supporting an important local industry and the Navigable Waterway Protection Program mandates that the bridge must remain open to marine traffic at all times. If access must be restricted temporarily to accommodate the project, it will be coordinated with upper harbour marine users and the Harbour Master. The new bridge will include an improved navigation channel of 41 metres in accordance with current regulations.