Revisions to heavy vehicle restrictions on 9 Avenue S.E. bridge

Calgary – As a precautionary measure, heavy vehicle restrictions on the 9 Avenue S.E. bridge into Inglewood are being revised. The City has also closed one lane of traffic in order to reduce weight on the bridge.

Currently, trucks heavier than 8.5 tonnes are not allowed to cross the bridge between 7 Street and 8 Street S.E. The change means trucks heavier than 5 tonnes (11,000 lbs) will no longer be allowed to use the bridge. The decision was made following a recent inspection of the bridge.

“The bridge structure has served Calgary for 110 years. This restriction is being put in place to ensure viability until it is replaced. We are now seeing the impact of heavy traffic and have decided to reduce the weight allowance,” says Charmaine Buhler, Manager of Bridge Maintenance at The City.

The new restriction will have the following impacts:

• Traffic lanes on the bridge will be reduced from three lanes to two lanes.
• Heavy trucks over 5 tonnes will be detoured.

Detour information

Trucks coming from the east (inbound to downtown) will be asked to detour via two methods:

• Vehicles inbound from 17 Avenue/Blackfoot Trail S.E. will be asked to detour via 26 Avenue to Dartmouth Road, 25 Avenue, northbound Macleod Trail and into Downtown.
• Vehicles already on 9 Avenue S.E. will detour via 8 Street to MacDonald Avenue to 12 Avenue and into downtown.

The outbound detour will have vehicles turn right to 4 Street S.E. to 12 Avenue and MacDonald Avenue to 8 Street.

New 9 Ave S.E. Bridge in the works

A construction tender is in market right now to hire a contractor to build the new 9 Avenue S.E. bridge which will be accessible to heavy trucks. Construction is expected to begin on the new bridge in 2019 and open to traffic in late 2020. For more information about the future 9 Avenue S.E. bridge, please go to calgary.ca/9avebridge.