After doing a number of assessments on the Thunderbird Viaduct (Fourth Avenue Bridge), the city is starting to get a clearer picture of what work needs to be done. 

A report was given to city council on Monday night outlining where the engineering department is at with the project. 

The engineering department laid out three options that could be done with the bridge. 

The first was to do nothing, which would mean the bridge would have to be rebuilt within 15 years at a price of about $35 million. 

The second option would be to remove the asphalt and grind down the top deteriorating concrete from the deck and replace it with high-performance concrete and repaved. It would cost about $9.5 million. This option would mean upkeep on the asphalt and it would not increase the weight load rating, which currently can’t handle vehicles such as city buses and snowplows. 

This option would have a lifespan of 50-65 years. 

The third option would be to remove the asphalt and six inches of concrete from the deck. It will be replaced by high-performance concrete that’s reinforced with rebar. The price would be $11.12 million. 

This option would have the concrete as the road surface, which would mean less maintenance, and it could increase the weight load. 

The third option would also include widening the east sidewalk and separate it with barriers from the roadway and have a lifespan of 50 to 65 years. 

Coun. Crystal Froese said the project wouldn’t get any cheaper if the city waits to get it done. 

“We talked about this in our previous term about hitting our asset management strategy and infrastructure head-on regardless of what the price is now. We only know the longer you wait, the more it's going to cost,” she said. 

Coun. Heather Eby agreed that it is a project they need to fit into the budget in the coming years. 

“This is not just something nice that we should think about doing. To me, this is a ‘have to’ thing. When you have 13,500 vehicles over it every day, it's a huge dollar amount. I know that, but it is a critical piece of infrastructure that needs to be looked at.” 

A number of public consultations were held including a survey that had 1,465 respondents, a virtual public open house, and key stakeholder meetings.