London city buses detoured by upcoming construction projects

Some bus routes are getting detours as the London Transit Commission (LTC) looks to navigate the city’s upcoming construction projects.

Close to a dozen bus routes will be detoured off downtown Dundas Street as of April 9, an interim measure until the routes can be changed permanently on April 29. It’s expected that close to a dozen routes will be moved away from Dundas to either King Street or Queens Avenue.

The removal of buses from Dundas Street will impact routes 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 19, 20, 23, 102 and 106.

During the detour, buses will continue to operate on current schedules which do not take into account transfer times at the split terminal.

Dundas Street will be closed to all traffic between Richmond and Ridout streets when construction begins on the first phase of London’s Dundas Place “flex street,” transforming the area into a culture-focused space that can swap between a regular roadway and pedestrian-only hub.

This highlights one of several large construction projects getting underway in London.

Main Street in Lambeth is getting an $8.3-million facelift, which will require the road to be closed from Campbell Street to Dingman Creek. That will allow crews to reduce the road from four lanes to three to add parking and give the stretch a more “main street” feel.

Egerton Street will be dug up between Dundas Street and the CN Rail Tracks to install sewer and water lines. A rural section of Wonderland Road will be getting additional lanes near Highway 401 and Highway 402.

The road widening will continue on Wharncliffe Road just north of Oxford, impacting some student-heavy bus routes.

The York Street sewer replacement between the Thames River and Talbot Street will also bump LTC routes off course.

In all, 13 bus routes are expected to be affected by summer construction.

In an effort to mitigate the impact, the LTC has budgeted for 1,800 hours of extra buses that can be used to fill in gaps when construction causes delays.