A change of heart by the province when it comes to planned daytime closures of the Saint John Harbour Bridge.
Our newsroom has been told that the temporary full closures will now take place during the overnight hours instead.
On Monday, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI) announced intermittent closures lasting about 20 minutes each over the coming months.
The closures are needed so crews can raise the bridge deck by using jacks — work that must be done in traffic-free environments to ensure everyone’s safety.
Officials said the full closures would happen during the day but outside the peak traffic hours of 7 to 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m.
Concerns from businesses, residents
That raised concerns from residents and businesses alike, including the Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce, which penned a letter to the transportation minister the same day.
“Disruptions, even in short intervals, will pose significant challenges to our businesses, workers, and residents,” Shannon Merrifield, president of the chamber, wrote in the letter.
“We respectfully urge the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure to reconsider the scheduling of this critical work.”
The chamber said scheduling the work to take place during the overnight hours would significantly reduce the impacts on the community.
In a statement to our newsroom late Thursday afternoon, a department spokesperson said the closures will now happen between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. “to reduce their impact on residents, businesses and the travelling public.”
Jacob MacDonald said the brief closures will be required two to three times per month until November, and again throughout the 2026 construction season.
The first closure is expected to take place between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, the city said in a statement shortly before 5 p.m.
“The City of Saint John will collaborate with the Province of New Brunswick and DTI to update the public of future closures through saintjohn.ca and the City’s Facebook page,” said the release from the city.
“DTI will also update information on 511 and electronic signs along Route 1 at least two days in advance of each closure.”
Project extended another year
The provincial spokesperson also confirmed that the project, which began in 2021, has been extended by another year until 2028. Work was originally supposed to be completed by 2026.
MacDonald said the amount of work required to replace all bearings on the ramps will not be possible to complete in the 2026 and 2027 construction seasons.
The good news is that 2025 should be the final year that the bridge is down to two lanes, though MacDonald noted that single lane closures will be needed in 2027 to complete bearing work on the Chesley Drive on-ramp and off-ramp.
“During this period, two lanes will remain open in one direction, while just one lane will be available in the opposite direction as work progresses. Once the work on the on-ramp is finished, the configuration will switch to allow for the completion of the off-ramp,” he said.
“These lane closures will be temporary, but as design work for the Chesley Drive on and off ramp project is still underway, meaning a finalized closure plan is not yet in place.”
The current cost estimate of the project is $61 million, up from the original estimate of $26.4 million.
