SURREY (NEWS1130) – It’s been a fixture for local commuters for almost 50 years; but today, the old Port Mann Bridge sits empty, totally devoid of traffic, as drivers flow both ways over its replacement.

The new Port Mann is now open to drivers going east and west, as two westbound lanes opened over the weekend.

“We’ve been stuck with two lanes on that (old) Port Mann Bridge since it was born, so to speak, 48 years ago. So, there has been no change there for westbound traffic whatsoever,” admits Kim Seale with the News1130 Air Patrol

“[But] I think once we get those additional lanes in place, and they start to use those feeder routes properly… there’ll be no more bottlenecking for that Mary Hill Bypass… [or] as you make your way down towards Brunette; things will start to smooth out as all this stuff comes into play.”

She thinks the change may take some getting used to. “This is going to be a real big learning curve for a lot of people.

“We are going to have everything in place by December 1st, so they will have those additional lanes set up. The 152nd onramp, expect that to get a little busier this morning,” she tells us.

“I expect it to be quite slow for this morning’s rush hour, especially as people get used to that new ‘switchover.’ It’ll be a lot of looky-loos; I’d looking myself, actually!” she adds.

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