The first Cambie Street Bridge, opened in 1891, was built as a simple piled-timber trestle with a trussed timber swing span near the middle.

[1] The following year, Canada's Governor General, the Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, accompanied by the Duchess and their daughter, Princess Patricia, visited Vancouver to officiate at a ceremony renaming the new crossing as the "Connaught Bridge" on September 20, 1912.

During World War I, on April 29, 1915, a fire broke out on the bridge that was thought to be an arson attack.

In April 1915, the creosoted wood deck caught fire, with the collapse of a 24.4-metre (80 ft) steel side span.

The entire Cambie crossing was closed for nine months, starting November 1984, while the present, six-lane, concrete bridge was merged with the existing approaches.

The new bridge cost $52.7 million and was opened on December 8, 1985, after being built to a tight timescale so as to be available for Expo 86 in May 1986.

The total structural length is 1,100 metres (3,600 ft); it carries 6 lanes of traffic and a 14-foot (4.3 m) pedestrian walkway.

[2] Both sides of the bridge include pedestrian sidewalks separated from motor vehicle traffic by concrete barriers.