The Yukon government is set to mark the start of work on the Nisutlin Bay Bridge replacement, but some are frustrated that the project isn’t moving at a quicker pace.

The bridge is a critical transportation link for moving people and goods into the Yukon. Opened in 1955, the current bridge is nearing the end of its lifespan. Its replacement promises to be safer for road users and able to handle more traffic and larger loads.

According to the Yukon government’s website, the contract for the job was awarded in the spring. This spring and summer would have seen site preparation and construction begin.

Decommissioning the old bridge would happen between the fall of 2025 and spring the next year. Construction would be complete in spring 2026.

The government says a groundbreaking ceremony will take place in Teslin Friday to celebrate the beginning of work on the $160-million replacement.

This is a milestone that Yukon Party MLA Stacey Hassard believes should have been achieved in the summer. He expected more progress by now.

“The concrete abutments should have been poured in place. There probably should have been somewhere in the neighbourhood of 30,000 [cubic] metres of gravel moved already to put a preload on those abutments so that they would have time to settle into place,” said Hassard, the MLA for Pelly-Nisutlin.

“A lot of work should have taken place already, and unfortunately none of that has happened.”

During question period this week, Hassard pressed the government for an update on the project. 

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