The downtown intersection of Queens Avenue and Richmond Street will see 24-hour-a-day construction work this week as progress continues on the Downtown Loop portion of the city’s planned bus rapid transit (BRT) network.
The round-the-clock construction, which comes as part of the second of three phases of the loop’s construction, began Monday and is expected to continue until at least Saturday.
The work is to allow for the completion of necessary underground work, including the installation and replacement of water main and storm sewers beneath the roadway, the city said.
“Above ground, traffic conditions will not change due to the intersection closure currently in place. Access will continue to be maintained to nearby properties during this work,” read a city advisory.
“As this continues to be an active construction site, regular construction noise should be expected in the area during the day and overnight.”
The second phase of Downtown Loop construction began earlier this year and is focused on the project’s Queens Avenue and Ridout Street sections. Queens Avenue is closed between Richmond and Talbot, while Ridout is closed between Fullarton and Queens.
Phase 3, focusing on Wellington Street between Queens and York Street, is slated to begin next year, while Phase 1 of construction, dealing with the King Street portion of the route, began in April 2021 and wrapped up that December save for minor above-ground work.
Work on the eastern leg of the BRT system, the East London Link, is also underway and will continue until at least 2024. According to the city, King Street is closed between Wellington Street and Lyle Street, just east of Adelaide Street, for Phase 1 of construction.
Work on the BRT network’s southern leg, dubbed the Wellington Gateway, is slated to begin in 2023 and continue until 2026.
Altogether, the city estimates the three sections represent roughly $270 million in infrastructure work, which will see old sewers and water mains replaced and traffic systems upgraded. When the BRT system is finally up and running, service will be handled by the London Transit Commission.
The city’s original BRT proposal included legs to the city’s north and west. Council scrapped the northern and western routes in 2019, voting to only submit the three current sections for senior government funding.
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