Blackfriars Bridge to reopen to eastbound traffic on Friday: London, Ont.
Global News
The reopening of the bridge comes as the city conducts a study to evaluate the bridge's long-term usage, including traffic analysis and public engagement, the city said.
London’s historic Blackfriars Bridge will officially reopen to vehicular traffic later this week after closure to all but cyclists and pedestrians for more than a year and a half, say city officials. The previous move was made to encourage social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Friday the bridge will reopen to traffic heading eastbound into the downtown core.
The reopening comes as the city conducts a study to evaluate the bridge’s long-term usage, including traffic analysis and public engagement. The study is required under the environmental assessment process relating to the bridge’s year-long, multi-million-dollar restoration in 2017 and 2018, the city said.
The city had planned to reopen the bridge to traffic earlier this month, but members of the community petitioned politicians to keep the bridge closed, arguing it had flourished during the pandemic as a popular river-crossing for area residents and those using the Thames Valley Parkway.
However, city officials said the bridge is being reopened now in response to a decline in local COVID-19 cases, high vaccination rates, loosening pandemic restrictions, and a return to more normal levels of activity on the city’s active transportation network.
The network saw a significant jump in usage by walkers and cyclists during the pandemic —partly to avoid sharing vehicles and using public transit. An online petition calling on the city to keep the bridge closed garnered more than 1,000 signatures. The matter was brought forward during a meeting of the civic works committee by chair and Ward 12 Coun. Elizabeth Peloza.
Although the committee endorsed a motion from Peloza to keep the bridge closed as the usage study was conducted, council chose to go a different route when it met last week. Peloza’s motion failed to garner enough support. Instead the vote went 8-5 in favour of a referral from newly-minted Ward 13 Coun. John Fyfe-Millar to open the bridge instead.
Fyfe-Millar explained he sought to follow the bridge’s original plans — to remain open to traffic, if not for the COVID-19 pandemic.
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