‘Death bridge’ problems unlikely to be solved by $200,000 ‘band-aid’

A costly upgrade to a Fraser River bridge known to many cyclists as the “death bridge” (or some variation thereof) seems unlikely to make the crossing any safer.

The Agassiz-Rosedale Bridge is notorious for its traffic and lack of shoulders, bike lanes or sidewalks. And although the province recently spent $200,000 to improve rider safety on the two-kilometre crossing by adding sensor-activated warning lights, locals warn the new system is of little use and plagued by malfunctions,

Cyclists warn that instead of making the bridge safer, the system’s inconsistency could leaving those on two wheels with a false sense of security, at the mercy of careless drivers, and in more danger than before the lights were installed.

A notorious bridge

Harrison resident Dave Pinton will occasionally hop on his bike to cycle the 30-odd-kilometres to his work on the south side of Chilliwack. But he won’t make the whole trip on two wheels, because he isn’t about to cycle over the Agassiz-Rosedale Bridge. So instead he hops a bus in Agassiz that takes him over the bridge where he gets off in Popkum.

The bridge is legendarily bad for cyclists—and pedestrians. There is neither a sidewalk nor a shoulder over the bridge’s entire length, which includes a long stretch over the Agassiz floodplain. On Strava, the popular cycling and outdoor recreation GPS app, the stretch over the crossing is labelled “Scariest bridge in the Lower Mainland.”

The bridge is also extremely busy, with around 15,000 cars crossing each day. The length, narrowness, and the traffic mean there is scarce room for error or carelessness. For a car to pass a cyclist, it must either head into oncoming traffic, or pass a biker by just inches.

“I don’t consider myself a particularly conservative cyclist, but I’m not going to run that gauntlet,” Pinton said.

The bridge’s danger is well-known to the ministry of transportation. More than a decade ago, the province’s own experts recommended widening its bridge deck to allow space for pedestrians and cyclists. But in 2017, when the province announced a still-to-be-completed $36 million seismic upgrade, improvements for non-drivers were absent. For those users, the government seems to have looked for a much cheaper option.

Since then, the District of Kent wrote the province to complain about the bridge. And locals organized a petition that garnered more than 1,000 signatures. But Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said adding sidewalks—on both sides of the bridge— would cost $90 million.

The province chose a cheaper option, though it declined to tell most of those who might choose to use their preferred solution. Last year, those using the bridge noticed construction in the area. Only after the local paper inquired did a transportation ministry spokesperson reveal that a new cyclist detection system was being installed. It was the first locals had been told about the new project.

The system was seen by the province as a way to improve safety for non-drivers on the bridge. Sensors are supposed to automatically detect cyclists on the roadways, with lights then alerting drivers following, prompting them to be more cautious.

Plagued by problems

But since its installation, the system has only worked sporadically.

On the evening of Feb. 2, Pinton passed a cyclist in the middle of the bridge travelling the opposite direction. At the end of the crossing, Pinton checked to see if the lights were working. They were not. On several other recent occasions, Pinton said he has seen the signals activated, with no cyclist in sight.

Pinton worries that the system’s unreliability will make the bridge even more dangerous.

“It’s a cry wolf situation where drivers will become desensitized to the flashing lights if they don’t see a cyclist.”

A transportation ministry spokesperson said that power to the signals was disrupted on Christmas Day, then repaired. And in January, further power issues led to blown fuses that knocked the system out. An inspection following a Jan. 26 outage revealed a “melted switch gear” that was replaced on Jan. 27, the spokesperson said. The province wasn’t aware of any further issues, the spokesperson said

Pinton, though, saw the failure on Feb. 2 more than a week after the system was most recently fixed. He posted about the failure the following day on an Agassiz-Harrison Observer Facebook post. A driver also reported seeing the system blink unnecessarily.

It’s unclear what testing is done to ensure the system is working properly on a day-to-day basis. Cyclists who use the bridge are unlikely to know if the system fails because the lights are supposed to flash behind them, in the opposite direction to the direction of travel. The riders, then, are unlikely to complain about the system not working because they won’t know—they must count on the lights flashing behind them in the opposite direction.

Pinton suggested the reliance on potentially glitchy sensors is a problem. He said it would be better cyclists were encouraged to push a button to trigger the lights. They would then be able to verify that the lights were working as they crossed.

But even if the system was working as designed, Pinton doesn’t see it being more than a “band-aid.”

Another frequent local cyclist, Michael Woods, also says the system will do little to make the bridge safer.

Woods also avoids the bridge, though he has used it occasionally to complete a circular route through Mission and Abbotsford.

The problem with drivers

Flashing lights, Woods said, won’t fix the real problem: drivers in a hurry who pass cyclists in unsafe ways.

“Especially on that bridge, the lack of common sense is astounding,” he said. “Whether there’s a flashing light or not, they’re still going to try and pass you to save 15 seconds on the other side.

“There’s no way to make it safer other than widening it for cyclists.”

Woods isn’t confident the situation will be improved anytime soon.

“The fact they (the province) just spent 200 grand on a useless light system is probably an indication they aren’t planning on doing something more solid.”

Pinton, though, thinks a wider deck might appeal to more than just hardcore cyclists. He pointed to the proposed development of the nearby Cascadia Skyline Gondola and the opportunities for more tourism in the area.

The crossing could help stimulate cycling tourism between Harrison Hot Springs and Chilliwack and the rest of the Fraser Valley, he said. It could also be a tourist attraction all on its own.

“If you’ve ever seen a sunset from that bridge, it’s spectacular,” he said. “There’s a tourism opportunity.”

The crossing is key to any efforts to expand tourism in the region, especially those that might involve bikes. In January, Fraser Valley Regional District Chair Jason Lum told The Current that local farms and other attractions could benefit from an expanded and effective “cycling tourism network.” But, he noted, “there’s some key infrastructure points that need to be connected.”

He specifically cited the Agassiz-Rosedale Bridge, noting that “I wouldn’t ask anybody to cycle over that bridge right now.”

At the time of that interview, the signal light system had been up and (supposedly) running for four months. But neither this reporter nor Lum was aware that it existed. A provincial spokesperson said that while it had been in contact with the District of Kent, it never attempted to tell the public about the $200,000 system designed to make it safer to cycle across the notorious bridge.

“We have received positive feedback from communities on the safety improvements,” a spokesperson wrote in an email.

It’s not quite clear who is sharing that positive feedback. It in’t on news stories about the bridge. And it isn’t from cyclists like Pinton.

“It’s only a matter of time,” he said, “until somebody gets hurt—or worse.”