Alex Fraser Bridge
The Alex Fraser Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge over the Fraser River that connects Richmond and New Westminster with Delta, British Columbia|North Delta] in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia. The bridge is named for Alex Fraser, a former British Columbia Minister of Transportation. The bridge was the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world when it opened on September 22, 1986, and was the longest in North America until the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, in the U.S. state of South Carolina, opened in 2005.
Overview
The Alex Fraser Bridge is long with a main span of. The towers are tall. It consists of seven lanes, three in each direction with the middle lane acting as a reversible lane, and had a maximum speed limit of until July 24, 2019, when the speed limit was lowered to to accommodate the additional reversible lane. Upon opening in 1986, only four of the six available lanes were open. Cyclists and pedestrians share two narrow sidewalks one on each side. All six lanes opened in 1987 after traffic demand justified the need.The bridge's southern end is in North Delta and its northern end is on Delta's Annacis Island. Connections on its southern end lead to White Rock and the Canada–United States border at the Peace Arch border crossing. The connections on the northern end lead into the cities of New Westminster, Richmond, and Burnaby, and on into Vancouver itself. It is a major artery in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.
The bridge was constructed for the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and was designed by a joint venture of Klohn Crippen Berger and Buckland & Taylor. Its total cost was $58 million.
Recent history
In December 2016, "ice bombs" dropped from the Alex Fraser Bridge and the nearby Port Mann Bridge onto vehicles, causing damage to windshields. The Alex Fraser has its cables along the sides of the driving lanes, whereas on the Port Mann, they cross over top of the driving lanes. In addition to 2016, this also happened on the Alex Fraser in 2005, 2008, and 2012. The Alex Fraser needed to be closed a few times during December 2016 due to the possibility of ice bombs; this caused major traffic problems in the region. To combat this issue, the BC government announced that a heavy lift helicopter will be used to blow snow and ice off the cables to prevent it from accumulating and falling onto the cars below.An announcement was made on January 19, 2017, that a new seventh travel lane would be added on the bridge by slightly narrowing the existing lanes and removing the shoulders. A reversible lane system with a movable barrier was added to help ease traffic during morning and afternoon rush hours. The new seventh lane opened to traffic on September 14, 2019, with the moveable reversible zipper in operation beginning December 16, 2019.