New Hwy. 7 delayed again as years of planning drag on
Completion is now slated for after 2021
KITCHENER — The government has again delayed completing a new Highway 7 to Guelph, 28 years after planning began and after spending more than $100 million.
The new deadline to finish the highway is some time after 2021, according to a timetable released in August by the Ministry of Transportation. If the highway is completed after 2021, that is more than 32 years after planning began in 1989 and more than 14 years after it was approved in 2007.
In 2013 the province set Highway 7 completion at beyond 2016 in its annual five-year construction forecast. Since then it has steadily delayed completion to beyond 2021 in the latest five-year forecast released last month.
“I’m concerned,” said Art Sinclair, vice-president of public policy for the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce. “We just need that connection, between two growing communities. There’s obviously a lot of economic activity going on in both communities.
“I think it’s time in this community we got this back on the priority list for the Province of Ontario.”
Sinclair and others recall that the province wanted to have the new highway built by 2014 after approving it in 2007.
Ontario has spent up to $102
million preparing for the new highway. The four-lane freeway, divided by a grass median, will run just north of the current Highway 7 for almost 19 kilometres between Kitchener and Guelph. The government won’t say how much it will cost. Here’s a summary of work to date: The government has bought all the property it needs for $70 million. Land costs had been estimated at $11 million in 2002 and $36 million in 2007.
The transportation ministry is currently relocating pipes and utilities and installing retaining walls where ramps will connect the new highway to the KitchenerWaterloo expressway. The ministry is currently realigning Shirley Avenue near a planned highway interchange. It has already widened the Guelph Street bridge. The total cost for all these works is up to $32 million.
The transportation ministry will demolish and replace the Victoria Street bridge next year, closing the crossing to traffic for a year. Costs are not released.
Construction of a new bridge over the Grand River, a major part of the new highway, is to be completed by 2020 according to the new timeline. Costs are not released.
There’s still no firm timeline or contracts tendered to build most of the new highway.
Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca did not respond directly when asked to explain delays. “We remain committed to keeping people and goods moving across the Guelph and Waterloo regions, and will continue to provide updates on the progress being made on the new Highway 7,” he said in a statement.
Progressive Conservative MPP Michael Harris asked the government last fall to count all the provincial staff exclusively dedicated working on the new Highway 7. The government said there’s one.
“I was shocked,” said Harris, of Kitchener-Conestoga. “The Liberals will promise you the world before an election to get your vote, but when shovels need to go in the ground they’re not quick do that … It’s frustrating. We know the need is there for Highway 7. It’s been there for decades.”
Former Liberal transportation minister Donna Cansfield approved the new highway in 2007. She cited traffic congestion, improved safety and economic development and said the highway had been put off for too long. She then left the provincial cabinet and her government put off the highway again.
The Liberal government revived the new highway in 2012 in what was seen as a failed bid to win the riding of Kitchener-Waterloo in a byelection. Sinclair expects Highway 7 delays to be raised again in the Ontario election next June.
Current construction next to the expressway is meant in part to prepare for flyover ramps that will connect the expressway to the new Highway 7.
Starting in January, the year-long closure of the Victoria Street crossing will send traffic to other expressway bridges, including at Frederick and Wellington streets. Governments are working on detour plans.
A wider Victoria Street bridge is expected to open by the end of next year. Victoria Street will also be widened between Edna and Bruce streets. The new bridge and street will include four lanes and sidewalks. A median to prevent collisions will separate traffic until the new Highway 7 opens. The new highway is expected to reduce Victoria Street traffic, allowing the median to be replaced by a continuous centre left-turn lane. Bicycle lanes are not planned.
A water pipe attached to the current bridge is being buried beneath the expressway. Other underground pipes are being relocated to separate them from future construction. Retaining walls currently under construction on both sides of the expressway will support future highway ramps and a new road connecting Edna and Wellington streets.
With limited exceptions, the expressway is expected to stay open to traffic when new Highway 7 flyovers are built above it. “To me this is a lifeline for this area,” said Jasan Boparai, a Ministry of Transportation engineer.