KENORA – September 11, 2026 – The City of Kenora will start a municipal bridge maintenance program Monday covering 10 city bridges through November, a notice posted Thursday said, as drivers already navigate a downtown span that has stayed closed all summer.
Crews begin at the Bay Street Overpass from Sept. 14 to 22. Bay Street will be closed for the work. Highway 17 West, the Trans-Canada through town, will remain open, the city said.
The First Avenue South Bridge is next, Oct. 2 to 7, with single-lane traffic. The northbound lane closes first, then the southbound.
Schedules for the other eight bridges will be posted on the city’s website and social channels as the work moves, the notice said.
Kenora is a city of crossings over Lake of the Woods and the Winnipeg River. The program lands while the 101-year-old Portage Bay Bridge remains shut. The city said July 30 that stress monitors showed parts of the original steel were not behaving as predicted after two phases of repair, and the span could not safely reopen.
Keewatin Channel Bridge, another major city crossing, returned to two-way traffic in March after a rehabilitation funded in part by provincial and federal infrastructure programs, according to the city’s capital-projects page.
Officials said delays should be minor and will vary by site. Motorists and pedestrians are told to follow posted signs and use caution in work zones.
The Bay Street closure is the local hit. Through traffic on the Trans-Canada is supposed to keep moving, which matters for freight and highway travel between Manitoba and Dryden, Thunder Bay and points east.
The city can be reached at 807-467-2000, or after hours at 807-467-2080.
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