The Alex Fraser Bridge will be even busier than usual over the next few months.
It's all thanks to construction on the aging Pattullo Bridge that began with a closure last weekend and will be followed by ongoing work through to October.
According to TransLink, drivers trying to make their way to the Pattullo Bridge can expect significant traffic delays and congestion.
TransLink warned drivers taking the Pattullo Bridge should plan an extra 20 to 40 minutes of travel time in the morning peak period and 10 to 30 minutes in the afternoon peak period.
The bridge will have only one lane open in each direction.
It will also be closed to all traffic two nights a week and one weekend a month before being shut down completely again during the final weekend of September.
During a recent Delta council meeting, Mayor Lois Jackson said that construction means bad news for the Alex Fraser, a situation that will be made all the worse because it's a toll-free bridge.
She said removing the toll on the Port Mann during the Pattullo construction would help ease the congestion by encouraging those who don't want to pay to use the other bridge, a case that fell on deaf ears.
"I don't think people really understand what's happening... if we think we have problems now in North Delta, come up and see what it will look like. It's going to be compounded mercilessly," Jackson said.
She added other regional mayors "seem to have no regard for anyone else's concern except their own."
During discussion on Delta's ongoing traffic enforcement to crack down on traffic cheats trying to cut though Annacis Island, CAO George Harvie also warned traffic patterns on the Alex Fraser will be impacted due to the Pattullo work, and likely the George Massey Tunnel as well.
According to a provincial traffic data analysis released last fall, the average daily traffic at the Alex Fraser has gone up from 92,373 vehicles in 2003 to 107,785 in 2014. The report notes the bridge absorbed almost all that growth because of the lack of available capacity at the tunnel.
