Road work starts Tuesday
News
Posted By BRENDAN WEDLEY , EXAMINER MUNICIPAL WRITER
Posted 1 month ago
Construction of the new $8.54-million hospital access road between Clonsilla Ave. and Parkhill Rd. is scheduled to start Tuesday, a city official says.
The controversial plan to build the two-lane, 50-km/h road has been discussed and studied since April 2003, when city planners took the idea to city council.
It's being built along a section of undeveloped land that runs through the city that had been set aside for the potential future extension of The Parkway from Clonsilla Ave. to the city's north end.
Some council members have argued that the hospital access road is needed to reduce the amount of traffic that cuts through neighbourhoods in the hospital campus area of the city and to relieve pressure from Monaghan Rd., which is operating over capacity.
Originally, the city planned to start construction on the north end of the new road near Parkhill Rd. W. on the section that's currently used as the entrance to St. Peter's Secondary School, utility services director Wayne Jackson said.
"We'll be starting on either side of Weller (St.) but we won't be impacting the school access until later," he said.
Concerns about cutting down and pruning trees during the nesting season for birds delayed the start of construction until the end of this month, at the earliest, Jackson said.
Because of the delay, there wouldn't be enough time to complete the northern section of the new road and build a new entrance to the school off of the new road before the school year started in September, he said.
The section of the road between Parkhill Rd. and St. Peter's school will be done next summer, Jackson said.
The road should be completed and open to traffic by the end of next summer, he said.
The road will stretch from Clonsilla Ave. near Maryland Ave. north to Parkhill Rd. There will be traffic signals along the road at Clonsilla Ave., Sherbrooke St., Hospital Dr. and Weller St. as well as pedestrian signals at St. Peter's school and intersection improvements at Parkhill Rd.
A pedestrian path will be built on one side of the road and a sidewalk along the other side. There will be designated bike lanes along the road.
The city warned residents that local traffic could experience delays and restrictions during construction.
The construction of the new hospital access road on undeveloped land is different than the widening of Lansdowne St. W., which will constantly impact traffic during construction, Jackson said.
"Here we can do a lot of work without anybody being impacted," he said. "We'll try to minimize any adverse impacts."
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