The traffic bottleneck on Barrydowne Road is expected to clear up by the end of July, when contractors are scheduled to conclude the two-year infrastructure project.
Upon completion, city engineering services director David Shelsted said a similar project on The Kingsway, between Barrydowne Road and Falconbridge Road, is expected to begin.
“But the piping network underneath isn’t as extensive,” he clarified. “There’s no water main under there, so some stormwater improvements are the limit of the piping network.”
With work on The Kingsway expected to begin so late in the year, he said it’s possible to see construction carry over into 2023, similar to what took place on Barrydowne Road.
“With the delays in Barrydowne, we’re issuing the tender for The Kingsway a little later, which means we may not get all of the work on The Kingsway done this year.”
Since both roads are major arterials in close proximity, he said crews will completely demobilize from Barrydowne Road before setting up on The Kingsway in order to keep area traffic disruption to a minimum.
Meanwhile, work on Barrydowne Road is expected to continue along its east side, where the temporary patches installed to keep the road fully open during the winter months are being replaced with permanent pavement.
“You’ll see paving within the next week or so, and we’re moving paving and putting curbs down from the Westmount (Avenue) intersection southerly,” Shelsted said, adding that the intersection will be opened back up within the next couple of weeks. “And then that paving and curb work and sidewalk will continue along the east side toward The Kingsway.”
Last year’s work faced delays due to COVID-related supply chain issues, which Shelsted said have been resolved and are not expected to affect future work on The Kingsway.
The project broke ground in July 2021 and came in response to the road and underground infrastructure’s degrading condition, with various water main breaks recorded in recent years. Around the time the project broke ground last year, the road also earned position No. 6 on the CAA’s list of the top 10 worst roads in north and east Ontario.
Although upcoming work on The Kingsway doesn’t include as much underground infrastructure work as Barrydowne Road required, Shelsted noted that there will be some storm sewer improvements required to accommodate sidewalks and bike lanes on both sides of the road.
“There’s no real good pedestrian connection across that section, and we’re seeing a lot of pedestrians using the shoulder of the road or a well-beaten path off the right of way,” he said.
The road’s median will be removed to add the road width required to accommodate the active transportation infrastructure, which will also include curbs on both sides of the road.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
