Highway 7 - Kitchener to Guelph

[KevinT]

I'm sure they'll put it back in service on an alignment closer to the previous one until such time as the highway 7 project resumes.

[embe]

Does anyone know when the ramp from 85S to Edna is supposed to be done? Last time I drove by, I noticed the sign says that it is supposed to be closed to Nov 2018, but it didn't seem anywhere close to being ready to me.

Surely there has to be an "official" place we can get this info?  or at least an updated schedule? 

Side-note: the 85N on ramp at Bruce has been paved and I drive past it a couple times each day anticipating the moment I can use it (instead of driving past it with a sigh).  Surprised they were able to put down asphalt this time of year, imagine temperature could impact whatever they're doing with the 85S to Edna ramp.

[Canard]

There's actually been lots of paving going on still, I'm also equally surprised after reading that the "asphalt plants close for the winter" and so on. They were paving the new parts of the 401 widening a day or two ago too.

[timio]

It's generally mid-late December when they close. I remember the base layer of Glasgow being laid mid December in 2013. So not uncommon.

[jeffster]

There's actually been lots of paving going on still, I'm also equally surprised after reading that the "asphalt plants close for the winter" and so on.  They were paving the new parts of the 401 widening a day or two ago too.

The weather has been co-operative, which makes a yuuuuge (as Trump would say) difference, especially since asphalt isn't from Ginah (as Trump would say).

[Canard]

Ah, okay! The last time I cared about asphalt was when the paving was happening for the LRT construction a few years ago, so my memory was rusty with when the paving "stopped". There was always a big frantic push to get things put back together so the asphalt could go down, before the winter.

[clasher]

The plants have heaters and can be fired up if needed... probably it just makes the asphalt too expensive and it's harder to pave with snow everywhere. Alaska repaved the broken highways after the recent earthquake in less than a week.

[KevinT]

I was driving down 85 southbound today and it looked like the ramp to Edna was open. Enjoy everyone!

[Spokes]

Yurek was also asked about Highway 7 expansion between Kitchener and Guelph, after the province said last fall that funding for the long-awaited link was under review. 

"We're still doing our multi-year planning on the Highway 7 expansion," Yurek told reporters, adding that he expected there will be more to discuss in the coming weeks.

Work to support the project, including the replacement of the Victoria Street bridge over the expressway in Kitchener, has already been completed; the province has already spent more than $100 million on the project that was originally approved in 2007.

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/913...ster-says/

[SammyOES]

I'm pretty curious to see which direction they go, since at this point I wouldn't be surprised by anything.

If I had to guess, its probably a delay wrapped up in blaming Liberals and budget reasons. So something along the lines of "The previous Government kept telling voters that the highway was being built but never committed to an actual timeline. We're laying out a 10-year timeline that will actually get this built while still being fiscally responsible." (And of course no new major money or work until a year before the next election.)

[kps]

So something along the lines of "The previous Government kept telling voters that the highway was being built but never committed to an actual timeline.  […]"

That's actually true, though; the last Southern Highways Program (2017) merely lists completion as “Beyond 2021”.

We're in KW, best known for being fooled *at least* twice. (See also: two-way GO.)

[SammyOES]

Hah, I didn't say if the blame was justified or not.

I think its somewhere in the middle. They were clearly moving forward with work and had a plan. It was also clearly not very detailed for the second half of the work. It never concerned me a whole lot because I think its reasonable that a project like this takes longer than the 5-year time frame of the Southern Highways Program. I totally support building this highway. But its also not an URGENT need and a reasonable construction process that minimizes extra costs seemed fine to me.

[jeffster]

Yurek was also asked about Highway 7 expansion between Kitchener and Guelph, after the province said last fall that funding for the long-awaited link was under review. 

"We're still doing our multi-year planning on the Highway 7 expansion," Yurek told reporters, adding that he expected there will be more to discuss in the coming weeks.

Work to support the project, including the replacement of the Victoria Street bridge over the expressway in Kitchener, has already been completed; the province has already spent more than $100 million on the project that was originally approved in 2007.

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/913...ster-says/

WOW! That is taken straight from the Liberal handbook of time commitment.

I'm guessing it IS going to be done, but as part of a promise for the June 2022 election -- along with Phase 2 of the LRT. Mark my words.

[Spokes]

As in an election promise to restart it?

[danbrotherston]

I guess, more on point, is that the Ford regime is also targeting the greenbelt in other ways, including reducing density targets, reducing transit, etc. Certainly this makes it harder, but we must keep fighting.