Commuters who use the Arlington Bridge on a regular basis will need to find a new route.

The City of Winnipeg announced Tuesday afternoon, that as a result of a bridge assessment, the Arlington Bridge is indefinitely closed.

Traffic into and out of North End will now need to detour to McPhillips Street or Salter Street to get to their destination.

Vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians, scooters, and all other modes will now be required to detour across the rail yards via either the McPhillips Street Underpass or Slaw Rebchuk Bridge.

"We encourage drivers to get onto these routes as early as possible – ideally at Selkirk Avenue or Notre Dame Avenue and especially during morning and afternoon commutes – to avoid bottlenecks at Logan Avenue and Dufferin Avenue," said the city in a press release.

The city says the need to plan for the future of the 121-year-old Arlington Bridge has been on the City’s radar for nearly a decade.

According to the press release, in 2016, engineers identified the bridge as nearing the end of its lifespan and undertook the Better Bridge for Arlington Study. The study resulted in a preliminary design for a new bridge, which was in 2019 approved by City Council for future consideration and placed on a list of unfunded capital projects.

"In mid-2023 we issued a contract for a study to determine whether a long-term rehabilitation is possible or if the bridge should be decommissioned."

The study’s initial bridge condition analysis discovered and confirmed that steel corrosion has accelerated in recent years, is widespread, and has progressed to the point where it is no longer viable to make annual reactive safety repairs.

Additionally, supports for the structural steel truss spans are not allowing the spans to expand and contract as required with changes in temperature. 

The city says they will continue with the planned assessment to determine whether long-term rehabilitation is feasible.

The bridge will remain closed until this study is complete.