Bridges to be replaced during upgrade
In all, $130 million in construction set to go on parkway
WATERLOO REGION — Bridges will fall this month as $130 million worth of construction work gears up along the Conestoga Parkway through Kitchener and Waterloo.
Widening at the western end of the highway in Kitchener started last year and continues for three more years. Work to the north, in Waterloo, started last week and is expected to continue for two more years.
The only stretch of the busy highway that won’t be under construction is around Highway 8 and Ottawa Street in Kitchener.
In Kitchener, a $96-million project will widen the four-lane highway to six lanes, roughly between the Kitchener-Wilmot boundary and Highway 8. Daily and nightly lane closures are expected.
Work includes replacing the Courtland Avenue and Westmount Road bridges this construction season, one half at a time, according to officials at the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.
All lanes of Courtland Avenue will close Friday, April 12 at 8 p.m., as half the overhead bridge is razed. Courtland is expected to reopen at 6 a.m. the following Monday.
All lanes of Westmount Road will close Friday, April 19 at 8 p.m., as half the overhead span is demolished. Westmount is expected to reopen by 6 a.m. the following Monday.
During both demolition weekends, eastbound parkway traffic will squeeze into a single lane on the other bridge.
Similar demolition weekends are expected in the middle of July for the other half of the bridges. All new bridge spans are expected to be open by November.
The Homer Watson Boulevard and Ottawa Street bridges will also be demolished and replaced in 2014 or 2015.
At the other end of the parkway — where it’s Highway 85 — more construction awaits motorists.
A $32.3-million bridge repair and repaving project stretches between Krug Street in Kitchener and Regional Rd. 15 in north Waterloo.
Concrete barriers will squeeze parkway traffic under bridges, as they protect workers refurbishing the concrete above.
The speed limit is 70 km/h through the entire work zone, down from 90 km/h.
Expect overnight lane and ramp closures through the spring and summer for paving.
The Bridgeport Road on-ramp to the parkway will be closed until November.
Current construction activities are listed at www.mto.gov.on.ca.