Province lowers speed limit on Alex Fraser

DELTA (NEWS 1130) – Your drive over the Alex Fraser Bridge just got a little slower — at least if you abide by the new speed limit.

The province has reduced it from 90 to 70 kilometres an hour. It says the move was made because crews have had to narrow lanes on the span to make room for a counterflow lane, which is being put in.

The lanes are being reduced from 3.7 metres to 3.55 metres.

The province says the change to the speed limit is to “help keep travellers safe and traffic flowing efficiently during counter-flow.”

Delta Mayor George Harvie says we’ll have to wait and see if there are any safety concerns as the lanes narrow, adding they’re within the set standards for width.

He’s more concerned about getting people moving off the Nordel and across the bridge.

“It’s probably one of the few remaining areas that does not have a dedicated HOV lane. There’s no HOV lane along 91 at all,” he says. “To me, we should have been looking at that many, many years ago, how we could widen the shoulders to accommodate an HOV bus lane only, similar to what we have on 99 and other highways throughout Metro Vancouver.”

The overnight work is expected to be completed on Friday morning, but crews warn it is weather-dependent.

Workers are expected to return to transition the southbound lanes and paint permanent lines on the road after the August-long weekend.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Transportation, the average speed of a car going over the Alex Fraser is about 76 kilometres an hour — but that also includes vehicles crawling over the span during the commute.

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