Team Gushue highway extension to open by Monday
Work to install the last remaining guardrails on the Team Gushue Highway from Kenmount Road to Topsail Road is scheduled to be completed this weekend, leading to the extension opening by Monday, the Department of Transportation and Works announced Friday.
The new section extends the highway 4.2 kilometres from Kenmount Road to Topsail Road. To complete the new route across the city of St. John’s, it was necessary to construct five concrete overpasses, 16 ramps, a roundabout at the Blackmarsh Road interchange, and Brier Avenue — a new road linking Old Penneywell Road to the highway, the department stated in a news release.
Motorists can access the new section of the Team Gushue Highway via Kenmount Road, Captain Whelan Drive, the new Brier Avenue, Blackmarsh Road and Topsail Road.
The Team Gushue Highway from the Outer Ring Road to Topsail Road will be one of the 14 routes to have overnight snowclearing.
The cost of the highway from Kenmount Road to Topsail Road is $58.9 million, costshared between the provincial government and the Government of Canada.
Budget 2018 allocated $13.7 million to advance the Team Gushue Highway extension.
“This extension was a substantial construction project with numerous overhead structures,” Transportation and Works Minister Steve Crocker said.
“It will be a very important piece of infrastructure that will reduce traffic congestion and change traffic flows in the area. We look forward to extending the highway to the Robert E. Howlett Highway in the future.”