MOTT responds to Taylor Bridge concerns following 2-hour delays

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — After two days of multi-hour delays caused by repairs, the province has announced it is expecting to spend $9 million on the Taylor Bridge in the next two years. 

In a reel uploaded to Facebook Larry Neufeld – MLA for Peace River South’s Facebook page the Minister of Transportation and Transit, Mike Farnworth, said: “$31 million has been spent, and there’ll be another $9 million over the next two years.” 

According to a Facebook reel uploaded on May 27th, Neufeld asked questions about the Taylor Bridge, including the design life of the original structure, the replacement plan, and the plan to mitigate the “significant” economic costs of losing access to an “exceptionally critical piece of infrastructure.” 

He said: “[The] Taylor Bridge [is an] absolutely critical piece of infrastructure in the northeast, the economic value that would be lost from losing access to that bridge would be felt throughout the province.” 

In response to the MLA’s questions, Farnworth recognized the “critical importance” of the bridge in the northeast as well as the province in the B.C. legislative assembly. 

“It is a crucial piece of infrastructure, and I want to say I appreciate [Neufeld’s] advocacy, because it makes my job as minister advocating for this project to go ahead,” he said. 

“The reality is you invest in the bridge over time, and that extends the life [of the bridge]. We know the bridge is coming to the end of its useful life; it needs to be replaced, and I fully acknowledge that.” 

Farnworth said work is ongoing to move the project forward to get serious consideration in the capital plan. 

“The following work is planned for this year, [including] additional property acquisition, archeological investigations, soil characterization testing,…north slope stability analysis and…continued rehabilitation of key structural elements of the existing bridge,” he explained. 

Farnworth reiterated that the bridges are inspected to ensure they are safe, which he said was of “critical importance” to Neufeld and his constituents. 

According to a Facebook update from Argo Road Maintenance – South Peace on May 28th, the maintenance contractor said the crews have completed cleaning and annual road maintenance work on South Taylor Hill ahead of schedule. 

The maintenance had previously caused major delays for drivers.

The post said that South Taylor Hill will be fully open and normal traffic pattern will resume.