Traffic flow will improve along Whoop-Up Drive, as all scheduled maintenance is complete, but repairs are still necessary under the bridge, stemming from the unrelated high load incident Aug. 6.
There are several changes beginning Friday morning.
Speed limits are increasing and merging zones are being reduced in both westbound and eastbound directions. Key updates affecting both directions include:
- The speed limit approaching the bridge rises from 50 km/h to 70 km/h
- The speed limit across the bridge remains at 50 km/h
Motorists will notice a few unique changes when travelling in each direction.
Westbound
- The alternating/zipper merge is relocated further down the hill, to the east end of the bridge
- After the bridge, the speed limit rises from 50 km/h to 70 km/h, as you travel up the hill
- Heavy trucks – excluding standard pickup trucks – are still restricted from travelling westbound on Whoop-Up Drive
Eastbound
- The alternating/zipper merge is relocated further to the east, to the mid-way part of the bridge
- After the bridge, the speed limit rises from 50 km/h to 60 km/h, as you travel up the hill
Several signs will display the updated speed limits.
According to the City of Lethbridge, these updates prioritize safety and help protect the damaged girders beneath the east end of the bridge. “Lanes three and four have the most heavily damaged girders and remain closed.”
“Last week, we finished all our planned rehabilitation work, so now we can open up a lot of the lanes. We shrunk all the detouring to protect those two lanes that were damaged by the high load incident,” says Road Infrastructure Manager Richard Brummund.
Brummund notes motorists still need to be patient, when travelling Whoop-Up Drive Bridge. “We’ve increased the speed limit to where we could. We’re still protecting the bridge and the damaged girders. That’s why it’s 50 kilometres per hour across the bridge. We’ve increased the speed up to 70 kilometres per hour on both sides, trying to help with the traffic and your commutes, both in the morning and the afternoon.”
The City has received some backlash from the community about the traffic on Whoop-Up Drive due to the rehabilitation work and the high load incident. “I think some of the work we did, the alternating lanes for the morning and afternoon peaks, that helped a lot with congestion of the traffic,” Brummund adds.
Heavy loads, Brummund explains, are still off-limits on the westbound lanes. “The two lanes that are open, that is still restricted to heavy truck traffic. Eastbound lanes are still OK for truck traffic. Just the westbound lanes are still restricted until the repairs are done.”
In the next week or so, Brummund says, the consultants will be finalizing their designs and calculations. “The contractor has been prepping. Once he gets those drawings and materials, he can start on the repair.”
Brummund notes the rehabilitation work completion was only a few days late. “Everything went well on that project.”
As for future work on Whoop-Up Drive, Brummond adds, bridge coating work will need to be completed on the westbound bridge. “It needs to be done, just like we did on the eastbound bridge five or 10 years ago. We do inspections almost every year, and that tells us what our next rehabilitation plan is.”
