Commuters travelling near the downtown core in London, Ont., might have to change travel plans this week.
Adelaide Street North will be closed from Wednesday until the end of the day Friday between McMahen Street and Elias Street to lift the first two new rail bridges into place for the Adelaide Underpass project.
The 72-hour closure comes as the city continues its reconstruction of the street from Elias Street to just north of McMahen Street, and Central Avenue from William Street to Elizabeth Street.
“It’s a big operation,” Jennie Dann, director of construction and infrastructure, told Global News. “We’ve been working really well with the rail authority and with our crews, contractors and consultants. We have a really tight plan with a 36-hour closure of the rail itself. But we need some setup time and teardown time on either side and that’s why we’ve got the three-day closures.”
Dann said that the project is adding an underpass beneath the rail tracks to allow traffic to continue flowing while trains are crossing. Intersection improvement and active transportation connections through the area, including wide multi-use paths on both sides of Adelaide Street, will also be added.
“It’s really a once-in-a-generation project for the city that so many people have been waiting for,” she said.
The reconstruction is a part of the city’s 2023 projects with a “focus on essential investments to upgrade aging underground infrastructure and build better connections for all through new transit-only lanes, bike and multi-use pathways, bridges and roads.”
According to developers, a crane will be removing part of the temporary rail bridge at Adelaide Street North and will place the new piece on the south side of the tracks. A second closure is also planned for late September to lift the remaining rail bridge piece into place on the north side of the tracks.
Dann said that a second closure is also planned for late September to lift the remaining rail bridge piece into place on the north side of the tracks.
“We recognize that this is a big impact to a major arterial road and so we expect there will be some drivers that use nearby neighboring routes to reach their destination,” she said. “We have traffic calming measures in place to try to address some of the cut through traffic, but that has limitations too.
“If you are driving down a neighborhood street, we want to remind people that it’s important to drive carefully, look out for other road users and follow the posted speed limit,” Dann said. “We’ve done a lot of advance signage and PSAs on the city social media sites to try to let people know well in advance, so hopefully people can plan their routes and try to find other ways around for those three days.”
She added that unlike the Victoria Bridge reconstruction viewing availability back in June, the city is advising residents to not come to the area due to safety requirements.
LTC routes 16 and 92 will be detoured along Piccadilly Street, William Street and Princess Street while the closure is underway.
The latest detour information can be found on the London Transit Detours and Stop Closure page.
All detours and the most up-to-date bus arrival information can be found on the LTC website.
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