The bridge originally had street car rails running down the center of the road span, but they were never used, and were removed a few years after opening.

In 1995, abnormally high temperatures caused the steel decking to expand to the point the bridge would not open or close properly.

On April 2, 2009, the preliminary results of an overall condition assessment of the Johnson Street Bridge[4] were presented to Victoria City Council.

On July 9, 2009, Victoria City Council asked staff to proceed with pursuing a design-build model and developing terms of reference for an advisory panel of community representatives to participate in the Johnson Street Bridge Replacement Project.

Victoria City Council was presented on September 8, 2009 with three design concepts[7] for the replacement Johnson Street Bridge.

By the deadline on January 4, 2010, organizers presented a successful counter petition to City Hall, exceeding this 10% threshold.

In February 2010, the city commissioned MMM Group to prepare a full Class C report on comparable options for both replacement and rehabilitation.

[10] Local business owners did not see a benefit from one bridge option over the other, but concerns over cost and construction issues including potential closures were noted.

[12] Negative economic impacts were assessed as follows: On June 14, 2010, MMM Engineering Group made a presentation[13] to council of their report[14] on the rehabilitation and replacement options, including updated cost estimates,[15] revised timelines,[16] and an economic impact study[17] of potential closures and options for different levels of seismic upgrading ($6.5 million, vs. $8.5 million).

Replacement of the existing structure, with accompanying work on the approaches to the bridge, with priority given to a mix of users including vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, was estimated to cost $89 million.

The MMM Group study was also peer-reviewed[19] by Stantec Consulting Ltd, Victoria, agreeing that the proposed new designs were appropriate, and that the projected costs of either rehabilitation or replacement were reasonable.

[20][21][22] On June 17, the city council decided to ask other municipalities to help fund the costs of maintaining the rail link.

[24] During the month of July, City of Victoria hosted 2 open houses and bridge tours to provide information on the projects to residents.

[28] Rail freight service up Store St. to commercial properties on the east side of the Upper Harbour had been discontinued decades before.

The closing and commissioning ceremony was attended by Victoria City Councillors, mayors from across the Capital Regional District, project managers and engineers for the new bridge, and members of the public.

[32] In late 2012, the contract was awarded to PCL Constructors Westcoast Inc. After construction began in May, 2013, piles were driven to install temporary work platforms on the east and west sides of the channel.

While steel fabrication began overseas in March, 2014, it was halted a few months later when form deficiencies were found following inspection.