Work on new Keith bridge set to begin

Construction work is now “imminent” on building a new Keith Road bridge more than twice as wide as the original.

Once complete in the fall of 2016, the bridge will have five lanes — two east and two west plus a right-turn lane to separate drivers wanting to continue south on Mountain Highway.

Replacing the 70-year-old original, which was reaching the end of its lifespan, is part of a larger vision to improve traffic flow around the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing bridgehead. That also includes the Keith Road extension around the new Seylynn tower and redesigns of the various onramps and offrramps in the area, starting with the Mountain Highway interchange.

“This is a key piece, obviously,” said Carolyn Drugge, project co-ordinator. “It should provide some relief but it’s not the magic bullet.”

The latest design also features 3.2-metre sidewalks/bike lanes that are separated from the vehicle traffic by a barrier, which was something cycling advocates had been lobbying for.

Though the Keith Road traffic often backs up well into the City of North Vancouver, the $12.7-million cost is being covered by district taxpayers and through development cost charges the district collects from new construction projects.

Contractors will be firing up the chainsaws next week to start removing trees in Bridgman Park all the way to Lynnmouth Avenue in order to make room for the new bridge and lanes of traffic.

While 150 trees will be cut down by the end of February and the trails and parking lot will have to be closed periodically for the work to be done safely, the park will ultimately be improved by the project, said Susan Rogers, parks manager for the district.

The district will be replacing the trees in the area at a ratio of three to one.

The project also calls for improvements to be made to the parking lot and trails.

District council voted last fall to take 26 undeveloped lots on the north side of Keith Road and turn them into parkland, which will result in a net increase in park space, Rogers said.

The informal trails that traverse the undeveloped land will be improved and connected with the existing trails in the area. “We’re really solidifying and improving trail access overall,” she said.

All the tree-cutting must be done by the end of February, before raptors begin nesting.

Engineers plan to keep the existing bridge open while the first half of the new bridge is constructed immediately to the south.

Once it is capable of handling traffic, the old lead paint covered bridge will be decommissioned and replaced with the second half. While there will be some off-peak hours lane closures, the plan is to keep traffic flowing through during construction.

“We have an extensive traffic management plan. We’re going to maintain what’s there,” said Shaun Loader, project engineer.

The project should bring environmental improvements to Lynn Creek itself, which is an important salmon spawning habitat. Storm water runoff will be captured by a perforated pipe and redirected back into the soil, rather than into the creek.

“The ground acts like a natural filter and that will improve the water quality as it travels down through the water table and into the creek as well,” Loader said.
Improvements to the riparian areas on both sides of the creek are also included in the work plan.