Traffic jams return to south Osborne as work resumes on St. Vital Bridge
Some residents confused, frustrated after work stopped last fall
Some people living, working and driving in Winnipeg's south Osborne neighbourhood say they're confused and frustrated by the return of traffic jams after crews resumed work on the St. Vital Bridge over the Red River.
Work began in 2022 and was substantially completed last fall. But when work on the bridge shut down in October, crews weren't finished yet.
According to a report to Winnipeg city council's finance committee earlier this month, they still had to apply protective coating to steel girders, and finish landscaping and ditch work.
That's all expected to wrap up this summer.
Parysh Blakney, who manages the Osborne Auto Service repair shop, just north of the bridge, was relieved when the work wrapped up and the traffic barricades came down last fall. Like others in the neighbourhood, she put up with construction work on the bridge for years.
But then earlier this spring, the work crews came back.
"[I'm] just confused as to what they're doing now, because … I was under the assumption, like everybody else, that it was all done," Blakney said.
Traffic problems seem worse now than before, and drivers less patient, she said.
"We just got a lot of people cutting through the parking lot trying to avoid waiting in the line," said Blakney.
"They're coming up the side streets and they cut through at quite a speed. There's been a few times where backing out of the shop, you have to stop real quick, because someone's coming super fast that shouldn't be."
Diane Papineau, who lives south of the bridge and crosses it every day, says trips to get coffee — normally a five-minute drive — can now take up to 25 minutes.
Like Blakney, Papineau was relieved when construction crews left last fall, and said she feels "a little depressed" now that work has resumed.
She would like to see crews work at night, to lessen the impacts on commuters.
"There's nobody on the bridge [at night]," she said. "You could get things done a lot faster."
Public works committee chair Janice Lukes says she understands the frustration, but the work needed to be done.
"I mean, this is Winnipeg. It's construction season," the Waverley West councillor said.
"You're going to end up with a spectacular, state-of-the-art bridge, so it will be worth the wait. You won't have to deal with this for probably another 60 to 75 years, unless something unusual happens."
Elsewhere, the Louise Bridge, which connects Point Douglas and Elmwood, has been closed since last Friday. It was supposed to open Wednesday, but the city has extended the closure until Monday.
During an annual inspection last weekend, crews found some "accelerated corrosion," City of Winnipeg spokesperson Julie Horbal Dooley wrote in an email.
"We are inspecting additional locations this week and developing a plan to repair the affected areas. Repairs to signals at the south end of the bridge are also underway and will be completed this week during the bridge closure," she said.
Last year, city council approved a plan to restore the 115-year-old bridge, rather than build a replacement. That restoration work is expected to be completed by 2030 and extend the life of the bridge for another 30 years.
Meanwhile, work on the Pembina Highway overpass at Abinojii Mikanah began earlier this month, and is expected to last until at least fall of next year.
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