Two downbound lanes of the Claremont Access that have been closed for close to eight months will reopen Thursday afternoon, according to the City of Hamilton.
The city’s engineering services division says the stretch of roadway, affected by decay along the escarpment, will be fully reopened between Inverness Avenue East and Main Street East by noon on Thursday.
Director of Engineering Services Jackie Kennedy said maintenance crews scaled the escarpment rock face and completed minor pavement repairs including repainting of roadway markings.
Additionally, a trademark steel fence helping with erosion on the side of the mountain was removed and not replaced.
“So those were removed and the facing of the escarpment right from the road level right up to the top has been cleaned and scaled … taking off all of the loose debris,” Kennedy explained.
All downbound lanes closed on March 2 after a routine inspection conducted in late February by Stantec Consulting reported decay “indicative of a potential failure of certain sections” along 550 metres of the escarpment.
Commuters heading to the lower city have had to resort to alternatives like the Jolley Cut for several months.
Kennedy said the most challenging part of the rehabilitation was workers having to “hang off the edge” of the escarpment and belay down on harnesses to do manual work.
She went on to say the third downbound lane is not in the reopening plan.
“So the fencing that’s been up, is going to continue to be there and we’ll look at the capacity needs as things move forward,” Kennedy explained.
The rehabilitation is expected to cost between $4.5 million and $5 million.
Drones taking advanced digital imaging of the escarpment will be a part of an ongoing monitoring program, identifying rockface changes that may be a concern.
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