What to expect in traffic, parking during two-year Elgin St. project
The City of Ottawa has announced specifics about a massive amount of construction work on Elgin Street that will lead to two years of traffic and delays in the downtown core.
Starting next Monday, traffic on Elgin, between McLeod and Waverley streets, will be reduced to one lane in each direction to accommodate the first phase of Bell Canada infrastructure upgrades in the area.
The work to replace aged telephone and internet lines will last about eight weeks, into the first week of May.
Parking will be prohibited on Elgin from McLeod Street to Waverley Street, and on Frank Street between Elgin and Metcalfe streets as work begins.
Frank Street will temporarily become a two-way road between Elgin and Metcalfe streets. Access to Jack Purcell Lane will be maintained at all times.
The west side of the Gladstone Avenue and Elgin Street intersection will be reduced to one lane in each direction.
The restrictions will be in place until the first phase of Bell’s work is complete. The city plans to announce further traffic disruptions as information becomes available.
One lane of traffic in each direction will remain open on Elgin Street at all times. The construction will be staged so that lane reductions and on-street parking restrictions are limited to the area where work is taking place, and will not affect the entire length of Elgin Street.
The work won’t impede access to any businesses or storefronts on Elgin Street, the city said in a news release Monday.
The Elgin Street work was approved by city council in May 2017. Underground infrastructure along the road is in need of replacement. Some of it, including sewers, dates back to 1874 and has reached the end of its service life.
The work Bell is completing is in advance of the city ’s plans to begin its own underground infrastructure renewal in 2019.
Council approved the $42-million project last year, which also includes pieces of Waverley Street and Hawthorne Avenue. Some of the water mains and sewers under the roads are more than 100 years old. Council knew preliminary work would begin some time in 2018 and have since confirmed it will last through the summer.
The city has opened the website ottawa.ca/elginstreet, where it plans to post the latest news pertaining to construction in the area.
OC Transpo service will be maintained this year on Elgin Street during construction with some bus stop relocations. The city says some service delays may be expected because of this work. Please check OCTranspo.com for up-to-date route information.