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Ontario Hwy 7: Kitchener to Guelph Freeway

Started by 7/8, July 08, 2016, 01:08:56 PM

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compdude787



noelbotevera

I'll see this project next year if I go to Canada. Part of my plan is to drive Highway 7 from Kitchener to Guelph and snap pictures of the construction.

7/8

It's been a while since I've updated this thread, but I finally got around to seeing the progress on the Shirley Ave reconstruction.

The Wellington St EAST exit on 85 north has been closed and the pavement was torn up. The Wellington St WEST exit is now for both EAST and WEST (and the EAST has been blacked out on the exit sign). Unfortunately I don't have photos of these signs.

Here's a few photos from 85 NB exit ramp at Wellington St:





These photos show the Wellington St and Shirley Ave/Riverbend Dr intersection:




And these photos are along Shirley Ave east of the previous intersection:




7/8

I found this article on more delays with the project. I quoted most of the article below.

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/7540630-new-highway-7-delayed-again-as-28-years-of-planning-drags-on/

QuoteKITCHENER – The government has again delayed completing a new Highway 7 to Guelph, 28 years after planning began and after spending more than $100 million.

The new deadline to finish the highway is some time after 2021, according to a timetable released in August by the Ministry of Transportation.

A design document from 2012 indicates the province expected to complete the highway by 2021. In 2013 the province set completion at beyond 2016 in its annual five-year construction forecast. Since then it has steadily delayed completion to beyond 2021 in the latest annual forecast.

If the highway is completed after 2021, that is more than 32 years after planning began in 1989 and more than 14 years after it was approved in 2007.

QuoteHere's a summary of work to date:

- The government has bought all the property it needs for $70 million. Land costs had been estimated at $11 million in 2002 and $36 million in 2007.

- The transportation ministry is currently relocating pipes and utilities and installing retaining walls where ramps will connect the new highway to the Kitchener-Waterloo expressway. The ministry is currently realigning Shirley Avenue near a planned highway interchange. It has already widened the Guelph Street bridge. The total cost for all these works is up to $32 million.

- The transportation ministry will demolish and replace the Victoria Street bridge next year, closing the crossing to traffic for a year. Costs are not released.

- Construction of new twin bridges over the Grand River, a major part of the new highway, is to be completed by 2020 according to the new timeline. Costs are not released.

There's still no firm timeline or contracts tendered to build most of the new highway.

I should get out and take some photos sometime. It's been a few months since I've checked out the Shirley Avenue construction. Replacing the Victoria Street bridge (next year) is going to be a traffic nightmare :wow:

7/8

I recently discovered there is a project website! (why is it so hard to find on Google?) http://newhighway7.ca. Now I can finally see detailed maps of the entire route. :thumbsup:

Also, here's a fairly recent news article about indigenous artifcats at the Grand River.

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/indigenous-artifacts-highway-7-bridge-grand-river-1.4309924

QuoteIndigenous artifacts have been discovered along the Grand River where the new Highway 7 bridge is slated to go.

The items — which include pottery and arrowheads — were found by an archaeology firm hired by the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to carry out an assessment of the land prior to the start of construction.

The team, which has been on the site north of Bingemans since the summer of 2016, are also working with First Nations archaeological monitors.

The artifacts and ancient tools date back roughly 2,000 years, a release from the ministry said.

"The arrowheads are made from a rock called chert, also known as flint, some of which came from more local quarries along the north shore of Lake Erie and as far away as Thunder Bay, through travel and trade," the release said.

"Fire pits and burnt mammal bones were also discovered."

Excavation work is set to wrap up this fall and then all artifacts will be analyzed and catalogued at the firm's laboratory. A final report will be submitted to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

"Archaeological clearance of the floodplain will be an important milestone to reach as the ministry moves towards securing all approvals required to begin construction of the bridges crossing the Grand River as part of new Highway 7," MTO said in the release.

The find is not expected to delay construction of the new highway, which is set to be completed by 2021.



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