If all goes according to plan, driver access to York Road will be restored by the end of the year, says Terry Gayman, the city’s general manager of engineering and transportation.
New closures will come as the project progresses to the city’s eastern limit.
“We’re excited to be moving this project along,” Gayman said. “It’s a very important infrastructure project for us.”
Work on this phase of the project – Ontario Street to Brockville Avenue – began at the end of March and was previously expected to be done before November arrived but is now slated for completion prior to the new year.
There are several factors to the delay, Gayman explained, including COVID-related supply issues, new provincial regulations regarding what’s done with excess soil and repair of a water valve that was believed to have been in working order.
“Construction is always complicated, especially in older parts of the city,” said Gayman. “At this point in time, we’re working hard to complete this phase so that there’s no impact with the next (phase) in terms of startup.”
The project features new sewer and water pipes underground, along with a repaved road surface.
This phase was approved in the 2021 city budget with a $4 million price tag and, for the most part, it’s on track to align with that, Gayman said, explaining council approved additional funds specific to excess soil regulations on projects throughout the city, along with an allocation for unexpected water valve work.
“We’re working within those funding envelopes," he said.
The plan is to reopen York Road to drivers through the winter months, but closures will return with the next phase –Stevenson Street to Victoria Road North – slated to get underway in the spring, with closure of the intersection at York and Stevenson tentatively set for April.
That stretch is expected to be done by the end of next November.
The final phase of the project involves the section of York Road from Victoria to the eastern city limit, which is expected to take three years to complete, beginning in late 2023.
The section of York between Wyndham Street and Hersey/Toronto streets was completed in 2016, followed by efforts up to Ontario Street in 2017.