ManitobaThe Louise Bridge reopens Friday, nearly three months after it closed for what the city expected to be a few days of scheduled maintenance. But the long-term future of the bridge remains a matter of debate amid a byelection campaign in the Elmwood-East Kildonan ward.Elmwood-East Kildonan byelection candidates split over long-term fate of bridge that closed in MayCBC News · Posted: Aug 22, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoThe Louise Bridge closed on May 23 for what was initially expected to be a few days of scheduled maintenance. After an inspection uncovered extensive corrosion on a few critical steel connections on the bridge, it’s now reopening on Friday. (Cliff Simpson/CBC)Winnipeg’s Louise Bridge reopens Friday, nearly three months after it closed for what the city expected to be a few days of scheduled maintenance. But the long-term future of the bridge remains a matter of debate amid a byelection campaign in Elmwood-East Kildonan.Candidates running to fill the council seat for the ward, which includes the Louise Bridge, had a range of responses when asked whether the city should continue with its plan to rehabilitate the 114-year-old bridge in order to extend its life, or build a new bridge with a longer service life, but at a significantly higher cost.The bridge closed on May 23 for its annual inspection and maintenance, and was expected to reopen May 27. However, the inspection uncovered extensive corrosion on a few critical steel connections on the bridge, City of Winnipeg spokesperson Adam Campbell wrote in an email. The reopening was pushed back to the end of July, and then again until September.Earlier this week, the city announced that the repairs had been completed earlier than expected, allowing the bridge to reopen Friday.Campbell said the original timeline provided in May “was based on the best available information we had at that time.”Some areas “needed a closer look,” he wrote, which couldn’t be done until concrete was removed from the sidewalk and damage could be fully assessed.The repairs “progressed well and without complications, which is why the bridge could be opened ahead of the revised September timeline,” wrote Campbell.Public works chair Janice Lukes supports rehabilitation for the Louise Bridge, saying the city can’t afford to build a new one. (CBC)Unlike the Arlington Bridge, which was closed indefinitely after a 2023 inspection found it was deteriorating rapidly, the Louise Bridge is still viable, provided the work is done in a timely manner, Campbell wrote.Some corrosion was repaired this year, but “the majority of the structural steel trusses remain in reasonably good condition,” wrote Campbell, saying that with “timely rehabilitation,” it’s estimated the bridge can remain in service at least 30 to 40 years.No money for new bridge: public works chairPublic works committee chair Coun. Janice Lukes supports the rehabilitation work, which the city estimates will cost approximately $40 million and must be completed by 2030. A new six-lane replacement bridge would cost an estimated $179 million, money Lukes says the city does not have. Traffic analysis indicates the existing bridge can handle the modest growth in vehicular traffic expected between now and 2050, city engineering manager Brad Neirinck wrote in a report last year. By that time, Lukes says the population in east Winnipeg will have grown enough to support building the eastern leg of the rapid transit network, which will run over the bridge.”We simply don’t have the money [for a new bridge],” the Waverley West councillor said. “Our priority right now is the [North End sewage] treatment plant. We can’t do anything unless we can flush our toilets. So we have to focus on money on that.”Emma Durand-Wood, a candidate running in the byelection to fill the Elmwood-East Kildonan seat on council after the death of former councillor Jason Schreyer, shares Lukes’s view that rehabilitating the bridge is the best course of action.”I think everyone was sort of holding their breath to see, you know, whether it really would open, so it’s good news to have that piece of infrastructure back up and running again,” Durand-Wood said, adding she believes rehabilitating the bridge gets the best “value for money.”Braydon Mazurkiewich, another candidate, says Mayor Scott Gillingham is trying to “kick the can” down the road by squeezing another few decades of service life out of the bridge.The bridge was first slated for replacement in the 2009 capital budget. Mazurkiewich says the city needs to invest in infrastructure for the area, which he says has been getting “ripped off.””They found $21 million very quickly to open up Portage and Main, when nobody asked for that to be open,” Mazurkiewich said, referring to the recent removal of barricades blocking pedestrians from crossing the intersection at street level.The Louise Bridge is seen in a 2016 file photo. Rehabilitation work on the bridge could begin as early as next year, pending budget approvals, the city says. (Cliff Simpon/CBC)Abel Gutierrez, who is also running in the byelection, says he needs more information before deciding on the best path forward.”I think that that bridge has a historic value, and rehabilitating that bridge isn’t a bad thing, if we can keep some of the character of that bridge and the historical value,” he said.Candidate Carmen Prefontaine wasn’t available for an interview, but said in an emailed statement she was “very glad to see that the repairs required to reopen” the bridge.”I absolutely agree that the ongoing issues with the Louise Bridge are a significant concern for those in the ward, myself included,” she wrote.Kyle Roche and Zekaria Selahadin, who are also registered candidates for the Oct. 25 Elmwood-East Kildonan byelection, did not provide a response to CBC by deadline.Rehabilitation work on the Louise Bridge could begin as early as next year, pending budget approvals, the city says.
As Louise Bridge reopens and byelection approaches, rehabilitation vs. replacement debate continues
