Georgia Viaduct's Main Street off-ramp closes for three months of expansion joint work

Vancouver's Georgia Viaduct Main Street off-ramp will close Friday, Oct. 2, at 2 p.m. for approximately three months while crews replace expansion joints on the elevated roadway and its ramps.

Expansion joints allow the structure to expand and contract with temperature changes. The repair work is part of a larger project targeting completion in Spring 2027. The viaduct, built in the early 1970s and considered seismically vulnerable, carries over 40,000 vehicles daily on average between downtown and the city's east side.

During the closure, drivers exiting eastbound can use the Georgia Viaduct's Prior Street off-ramp, which remains open. The Georgia Viaduct sidewalk is also expected to close for an extended period; pedestrians are directed to use the Dunsmuir Viaduct sidewalk instead. Dunsmuir Viaduct remains open to westbound vehicle traffic, with its on-ramp from Main Street available and bike lanes unaffected.

Temporary lane closures on Pacific Boulevard beneath the Georgia Viaduct will reduce available lanes during construction, potentially slowing trips between downtown and the Eastside.

The viaduct demolition and replacement project, originally slated to begin in 2019 as part of the Northeast False Creek Plan, stalled due to escalating construction costs and lack of progress on area residential developments that were to fund the infrastructure through developer contributions. Those developer projects slowed in the current economic environment. The city is making interim investments in repairs to ensure the structures remain safe, though more significant reinvestment will be needed if the viaducts remain in place into the early 2030s, when they will reach six decades old.