As a major downtown road reconstruction project nears, city officials are looking at what they will - and might - do to mitigate the impact of road closures, increased noise and more on businesses.
That may include opening a downtown storefront office so people can ask questions and get answers from the city’s project team and the development of access plans for individual businesses.
Roughly 50 turned out for a public meeting at city hall regarding the evolving plan, which calls for about 13 years worth of road and streetscape work, on Wednesday evening.
“There’s a lot going on downtown,” Reg Russwurm, the city’s manager of design and construction told the crowd during a presentation, referring to the reconstruction effort, along with a waste project, a parking plan, building height study and more. “(Road reconstruction) is probably the single biggest undertaking the city is doing downtown.”
The phased road work, and in some cases streetscaping enhancements, is estimated to cost $161.2 million collectively.
During phase one, which is actually the second part of the plan, Wyndham Street North will be entirely closed to vehicle traffic between Woolwich Street and St. George’s Square for about two years starting in 2026.
“This has the potential to discourage some visitors,” noted consultant Andrew McGregor of R.V. Anderson Associates Ltd. “Increasing the pace of construction could intensify the impacts somewhat, however it will reduce the overall duration of construction and disruption.”
Last month, city council agreed to shorten the timeline for that phase of the project from four or five years to two years, along with the $31.3 million price tag for that work.
During that time, businesses should expect increased noise, dust and vibrations, as well as potential utility outages and watermain breaks, along with the relocation of transit stops. That’s in addition to road closures.
In order to help mitigate the impact of those disruptions, city officials plan to maintain pedestrian access and fence-off work zones; install signet to let people know businesses are still open as well as where vehicles can be parked; and set up temporary ramps for storefronts during sidewalk construction.
Meeting attendees learned the city is also considering opening a downtown storefront office, access plans for individual businesses, develop a business support plan and prepare detailed traffic and pedestrian management plans.
“Right now we’re collecting all the ideas of what we can do and part of the final report of the capital implementation is going to be putting forward the things we think will be the best for downtown,” Stacey Laughlin, the city’s downtown revitalization advisor, told GuelphToday.
She’s referring to a report and final recommendations to be presented to council for consideration in the first part of next year.
As noted in the presentation, the Downtown Guelph Business Association is calling for pop-up events to promote “shop local,” designated curbside pickup areas for downtown patrons, increased wayfinding and more.
The overall infrastructure project is set to take place in 10 phases. They are:
- Phase zero – Wyndham Street South (Farquhar Street to Wellington Street East) and Wellington Street East (Gordon Street to Wyndham Street South) in 2025 at a cost of $2.4 million
- Phase one – Wyndham Street North (Farquhar to Woolwich) in 2026 and 2027 at a cost of $31.3 million
- Phase two – Macdonell Bridge, Allan’s Structures and Macdonell Street (Norfolk Street to Arthur Street) in 2028 and 2029 at a cost of $40.3 million
- Phase three – Quebec Street (Wyndham to Norfolk) and Yarmouth Street (Quebec to Woolwich) in 2030 at a cost of $12.9 million
- Phase four – Cork Street (Norfolk to Wyndham) and Douglas Street (Wyndham to Woolwich) in 2030 and 2031 at a cost of $8.2 million
- Phase five – Woolwich (Macdonell to London Road West) in 2032 and 2033 at a cost of $22.3 million
- Phase six – Dublin Street (Kent Street to Cork) as well as Northumberland and Kent streets in 2034 at a cost of $5.7 million
- Phase seven – Cardigan Street (Woolwich to London) and Norwich Street East Norfolk to Cardigan) in 2035 at a cost of $7.8 million
- Phase eight – Norfolk (Waterloo Avenue to Norwich) and sections of Suffolk Street, Commercial Lane, Church Lane and Thorpe Street in 2036 and 2037 at a cost of $19.8 million
- Phase nine – Wellington (Wyndham to Neeve Street) in 2038 at a cost of $10.5 million.
