New bridge into Inglewood falls behind schedule, will exceed $23M budget

Construction on the new Ninth Avenue bridge east of Calgary's downtown core into Inglewood has fallen more than a year behind schedule and will exceed its $23-million budget.

The bridge will bea key entry point into Inglewood and thenew bridge is scheduled toreplacethe oldstructure that was in use for more than 100 years.

The delay is due to a subcontractor going out of business and the need to find anew steel fabricator.

Evan Fer, the city's project manager for the bridge, said there have also been problems with the steel.

"There's been a lot of work going on with our steel in the shop," Fer said.

"We do expect to see that to start coming to the site shortly and look at installing the rest of the steel later this summer."

Traffic could be using the bridge by the end of the year, butit will take until next spring to remove a nearby temporary bridge and finish landscaping.

Erin Joslin with the Ramsay Community Association said the delay is frustrating because as long as construction continues, a key pedestrian pathway to the community remains closed.

"Every time this bridge gets delayed, and now it's another summer, another year," she said.

"It's ridiculous. We have no way to get to Inglewood, except one connection point only at this point."

The project may end up going as much as 10 per cent over budget due to the delays.