The City of Victoria says the construction upgrades to the Bay Street bridge are not feasible at night and as a result, city staff did not look into how much it would cost to do the work in the evening.

The city says it did look at doing night-only work as well as using a 24/7 construction schedule but decided after consultation with stakeholders, including BC Transit and fire and police services, that closing the eastbound lane permanently was the best option. 

According to staff, doing night work exclusively would have posed safety issues for construction workers and would have created higher costs. The city also says it would have created noise that would be disruptive to neighbours. 

As a result, the city confirms it never asked for a detailed budget estimate for night-only work or 24/7 work to compare with the cost of the current daytime, eastbound-only closure plan. 

"Generally speaking, our transportation and engineering staff know from experience that night and 24/7 work is more costly and, in this case given the work that needs to be done, it would not significantly reduce the project’s overall duration to keep it within the Council approved budget," said Bill Eisenhauer, the Head of engagement with the City of Victoria. 

Since Tuesday’s partial closure of the Bay Street Bridge for upgrades, drivers have been faced with longer commute times, particularly into the downtown core with gridlock at times stretching more than three kilometres into Esquimalt. 

Despite the noise concerns with a night-only construction schedule, the city says some night work may be considered for certain activities to reduce the duration of the project. 

As for alternating the traffic flow, an option that was also considered but ultimately rejected, the city says alternating traffic is best utilized where traffic volumes are low to moderate and where there is adequate vehicle storage for traffic volumes.

Staff say the logistics of alternating traffic on the Bay Street Bridge are complicated and costly and would result in substantial increases in delays for motorists. 

The work on the bridge is being performed by Seismic 2000 at an estimated budget of $6.1 million. 

The provincial and federal governments are each kicking in $1.2 million for the project.