Work begins to widen Whitehorse's Robert Campbell Bridge

Construction to widen Whitehorse'sRobert Campbell Bridge for cyclists begins Monday.

The City of Whitehorse says work will be adjusted to avoid affecting traffic as much as possible.

The bridge over the Yukon River is the only route into theRiverdalesubdivision and traffic there slows to a crawl during rush hour.

"The contractor is fully aware of the traffic condition," said Wayne Tuck, Whitehorse's manager of engineering services.

"We don't want to interrupt the 20minutes worth of congestion in the morning, so they'll be working around the traffic as necessary."

Currently, the bridge walkway is too narrow for cyclists to pass pedestrians.The city received a grant from the Build Canada fund to build the walkway a metre wider on each side of the bridgeto add bike lanes.

The connection between the Millennium Trail and the Robert Service Way Trail will also be improved.

If all goes as planned, the $1.7-million project will be complete inSeptember.