Project planners expect smooth opening of new Port Mann

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SURREY (NEWS1130) – Smooth sailing is expected when eight lanes of the new Port Mann Bridge open up in a little over two weeks. Despite ongoing construction elsewhere, project planners don’t expect bottlenecks.

As of December 1st, the two westbound lanes you have from Langley through Coquitlam will be increased to four with the opening of the new bridge. It will all be narrowed down, however, to what exists now at Brunette Avenue, as there is still a year’s worth of construction between that interchange and McGill Street in Vancouver.

“So much traffic that comes over the Port Mann Bridge gets off at both the Cape Horn Interchange as well as Brunette,” points out Max Logan with the Port Mann/Highway 1 Improvement Project. “There’s a considerable thinning of traffic at that point so we’re not expecting a bottleneck.”

Logan says beyond that, drivers shouldn’t notice any rush hour congestion beyond what’s already there.

“Drivers are still going to see volume on the highway and potentially some congestion west of Brunette just as they do today,” he adds. “Those travel time savings west of Brunette will be most pronounced once we’ve completed highway widening in that area through 2013.”

Tolls on the new Port Mann Bridge kick in December 8th once a free week after its official opening is complete. Westbound traffic will be shifted onto the new bridge this coming weekend but will remain in a two-lane configuration until December 1st.

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