Newly rebuilt Victoria Bridge officially opens to the public

After twoyears of waiting, Londoners are nowable to driveon the newly reconstructed Victoria Bridge over the Thames River.

The bridge located on Ridout Street had beenclosed since 2022 for reconstruction, but the City of London announced cyclists and pedestrians were allowed to cross over in April.

The bridge is now back in business forvehicle traffic too as ofThursday afternoon.

"Ridout Street is an incredibly important arterial road... so it's really important that [the bridge] is going to connect Old South and downtown again," said Ward 11 councillor Skylar Franke, whoattended the bridge's official re-opening held by the City of London on Thursday morning.

The Victoria Bridge, which has carried Ridout Street traffic over the river south of Horton for almost a century, was reconstructed in a$23-million project that began in 2022. But the project was stalled almost as soon as it beganwhen a rare species of fish and molluskswere discovered living in the river.

The section heading north on the east side of the bridge has space for a protected bike lane and a separated sidewalk, whilethe west side of the bridge will havea multi-use sidewalk for both cyclists and pedestrians, Franke said.

"I think people will feel a lot safer being separated from cars and I'm hoping that it becomes a very frequent use for cyclists and pedestrians," she said.

London Transit busroutes thatdetoured to neighbouring streets will be back on Ridouton Friday, such as bus route 4 that travels to Fanshawe College and White Oaks Mall, and route 15 that travels toHuron Heights andWestmount Mall.

The section of Thames Valley Parkway looping under the bridge will reopen in the coming weeksonce hand rails are installed along the river, according to a statement from the City of London.

As part of the construction project, the tennis courts in Thames Park are also beingreconstructedandwill be open in the coming weeks.