SURREY (NEWS1130) – Drivers will get to use part of the new Port Mann Bridge when three eastbound lanes open on September 18th.

A key part of that opening depends on major changes at the Cape Horn Interchange. There used to be four overpasses; soon, there will be fifteen.



“Everybody points to the new bridge as being the most visible and impressive part of the project, but the work here at the Cape Horn Interchange is truly a mega-project within the mega-project,” explains Mike Proudfoot, CEO of Transportation Investment Corporation.

“The major highway and interchange improvements required on both sides of the bridge are necessary and critical to cutting the travel time,” he adds.

The new interchange is the largest and most complex in British Columbia. The entire project is the largest highway project in BC history.

Drivers are being warned about major changes and delays, especially on the weekends of September 22/23 and 29/30. It will allow for the finishing and opening of two key overpasses that will link Lougheed Highway westbound with Highway 1 eastbound, and Highway 1 westbound with Lougheed Highway eastbound.

“During the first weekend, Highway One at the north end of the bridge will be reduced to one lane in each direction for portions of the weekend,” Proudfoot explains.  “In addition, the majority of the Cape Horn Interchange will be closed and traffic will be rerouted to the Brunette Interchange.”

“On that Monday morning, [when the work is complete] it will allow drivers to do in seconds what today takes minutes,” he adds.

Proudfoot says the new bridge alone will not solve congestion problems. “Everyone points to the new bridge as being the most visible and impressive part of the project, but the work here at the Cape Horn Interchange is truly a mega-project within the megaproject.”



Eight lanes of the new Port Mann Bridge open in December, when $3 tolls kick in. The old bridge will be dismantled next year, at which time the bridge can be expanded to its full 10-lane capacity.

The entire cost of the project rings in around $3.5 billion. Construction began in 2008 and is expected to be largely complete next year.

News1130 will have all the updates you need on closures, detours, and delays as work continues.



The following information is from Transportation Investment Corporation. Scheduled dates are as follows, although all are weather dependent:

On September 16, Lougheed Highway eastbound will be shifted to a new and final alignment south of Highway 1.

On September 18, the three lanes of Highway 1 eastbound traffic will be transitioned from the old bridge onto the new Port Mann Bridge.

On September 19, a new time-saving overpass connecting westbound bridge traffic to Lougheed Highway eastbound will open.

Over the weekend of September 22/23, crews will perform an engineering marvel as a new overpass is completed and opened in a single weekend. This new overpass, the longest in the Port Mann/Highway 1 Improvement Project, will connect Lougheed Highway westbound to Highway 1 eastbound.

During this and the following weekend, substantial traffic management will take place in the Cape Horn Interchange. Highway 1 will be reduced to one lane in each direction for a portion of the first weekend and the majority of the second weekend to facilitate this construction and demolition of the old Cape Horn overpass. Drivers should avoid this area of the highway and choose alternate routes.