Resurfacing of Hamilton’s Red Hill Valley Parkway to begin May 21

The stage is set for an $8.5-million resurfacing of the Red Hill Valley Parkway (RHVP).

The city confirms that the northbound, or downbound, lanes will be closed for three weeks, starting at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21, as the city switches to a new “high-quality” asphalt in response to concerns about friction levels on the existing surface.

Gord McGuire, Hamilton’s director of engineering services, says other safety improvements will include rumble strips, brighter lane markings and steel guide rails with reflectors.

McGuire says some of the improvements were directed by city council while others are in response to a road audit by a professional consultant who “advised us of what materials were needed to bring it up to current specifications.”

McGuire adds that the city will be monitoring traffic in real time and making changes to signal timing in hopes of avoiding serious traffic gridlock on other key corridors while the parkway is closed for resurfacing.

That will include changes to lane markings and signal timings at the intersection of Mud Street and Upper Centennial Parkway.

It is estimated that 35,000 vehicles will detour onto city streets each day while the parkway is closed.

The closure and resurfacing of the southbound, or upbound, lanes will follow in mid-June once upgrades to the northbound lanes have been completed.

The resurfacing of the RHVP follows the unearthing of a report earlier this year that raised concerns about friction levels.

City council has since lowered the speed limit to 80 km/h along a collision-prone section of the parkway and requested a judicial inquiry into how the report was buried for five years.

There are also threats of a class-action lawsuit by families and friends of some of those who have been killed in collisions along the RHVP in recent years.