Tunnel troubles abound
Niagara motorists will have to wait a while before they’ll be officially told what’s happening in the Thorold tunnel.
A City of Thorold staffer told CKTB radio Friday morning the Ministry of Transportation is ending two-way traffic through the tunnel — something the Ministry of Transportation would not confirm later.
Manager of engineering Scott Dunsmore told the radio station vehicles travelling west to Thorold and St. Catharines will still be able to use the tunnel.
However, vehicles eastbound to Niagara Falls would have to find an alternate route. It’s not a minor issue for drivers — an estimated 24,300 vehicles use the Thorold tunnel daily.
The City of Thorold also would not confirm Dunsmore’s comments. The city directed queries to the ministry, saying the tunnel wasn’t part of its infrastructure.
The ministry said Friday afternoon they are still working on plans, and will share them with drivers shortly.
The south tunnel tube has been closed for maintenance for several months, and in that time the north tube has accommodated two-way traffic. But it was shut down for 18 hours during a snowstorm Monday after officials realized snowplows couldn’t fit through the lanes, which are narrowed by concrete dividers.
“The current configuration does not allow for standard snow-clearing equipment to travel through the tunnel and to continue onto the remaining highway sections and snow plow routes,” said Astrid Poei, of the Ministry of Transportation.
“To accommodate snow plowing equipment, we need both lanes to operate in one direction.”
A decision to limit the tunnel to one-way traffic would force motorists travelling east on Highway 58 to Niagara Falls to choose from several wide-ranging detours.
They include the Garden City Skyway on the QEW, the Glendale bridge in Merritton, the Allanburg Bridge on Highway 20, and the Welland tunnel on East Main Street.
When the ministry announced the maintenance project in 2018, it said construction would end for the season on Nov. 15 and resume in April.
That plan changed, though, to accommodate timelines for the Canada Summer Games, the ministry said.
The work will now continue through the winter to ensure “the timely completion of the overall project so that there will be no traffic disruptions” during the Games in 2021.
Closing one of the tubes during construction was done to ensure the safety of workers on the project. In the other tube drivers, however, have run into trouble several times in recent months, including:
á Oct. 16, when a garbage truck knocked down several 3,200-kg concrete panels from the tunnel ceiling and forced evacuation of the tunnel that had been open to traffic.
á Oct. 2, when a five-vehicle collision inside the tunnel forced closure of the eastbound lanes for about a half-hour.
á Aug. 1, when all lanes were shut down after a truck caught fire, filling the tunnel with smoke and forcing some motorists to flee their vehicles.
There was also a brief problem earlier this fall with lighting, which is controlled using automated on-and-off switches based on time of day.
During daytime conditions,
lighting levels in the tunnel are the brightest to prevent momentary blindness in motorists entering during bright, sunny conditions. As the drivers continue through the tunnel, lighting levels are incrementally reduced as their eyes adjust.
At nighttime when drivers’ eyes have already adjusted for lower light, only portions of the lights are illuminated.
Following maintenance on the lighting, the automated controls were left on in error in the evening, filling the tunnel with too much light for nighttime driving.