The Queensway, it seems, is going to be a busy place for the next few years.
Content of the article
Goodbye to the rue Lyon ramp. See you in four years.
Advertising
This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
According to the city, the ramp to Highway 417 westbound will be closed until November 2025 “to replace retaining walls, noise barriers and repair existing infrastructure along the highway.”
But four years?
For a more detailed explanation of the work, we turned to the Ministry of Transport. The Queensway, it seems, is going to be a busy place for the next few years.
The closure of the Lyon Street slip road is part of the ongoing program to replace the downtown 417 / The Queensway downtown bridge, said Simi Ikotun, issues management coordinator at the Department of Transportation. , in an email.
“As part of this project, the ministry will replace a total of 11 bridges over the next 4.5 years using rapid bridge replacement technology,†Ikotun wrote.
Advertising
This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
“In addition to the bridge replacement work, the Queensway will be rebuilt between the O-train Bridge and Kent Street. The reconstruction will include new retaining wall and noise barrier systems, drainage, electrical and ATMS (automated traffic management) systems.
“To carry out this work in complete safety in the various stages, the closure of the westbound access ramp to rue Lyon will be required from 23 August 2021 to 21 November 2025.”
The Bronson exit of the 417 eastbound is also closed as part of the same project, but for a shorter period. It should reopen in June 2022.
The West Bronson slip road will remain open, he said, with the exception of some periodic nightly closures and quick bridge replacements on weekends.
Advertising
This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
The rapid replacement of aging Queensway bridges was started in 2007 when a new overpass at Island Park Drive was put in place over a weekend. Since then, they have become almost routine. Details of the 11 new bridge replacements will be announced closer to the operation dates, Ikotun wrote.
Meanwhile, work continues to resolve one of the city’s most dangerous intersections: the crazy traffic interchange between traffic exiting 417 heading west and trying to turn south on Kirkwood Avenue. .
The modifications include two dedicated left turn lanes on Kirkwood Avenue in a southerly direction, thus eliminating the weaving of the westbound exit ramp from Queensway to Kirkwood Avenue in the southbound direction, a new left turn lane at Saigon Court as well as as new traffic lights at Saigon Court and Carling Avenue eastbound, â€Ikotun wrote.
But this work comes at a cost. Kirkwood northbound has been reduced to one lane resulting in rush hour traffic jams stretching under the Queensway through Carling eastbound. Work on the Kirkwood interchange is expected to be completed by fall 2022.
