Highway 7 East Rapidway Week One Update

After all the planning and prepping, rapidway construction is well underway for our Highway 7 East rapidway. And so far so good – work is going according to schedule, the weather’s cooperating, and we hope to have this first stage of work done by late May.

Here’s an update on what’s happening, and what to expect over the next while.

Before we can get going on the heavy construction, we need to create some room to work. The way we do that is to remove and pave over the centre median all the way from Chalmers in the west end, to Highway 404 in the east. Using those extra feet of roadway, we will then repaint the lanes, shifting them away from the current edge of the road to give our crews room to work safely, while keeping all travel lanes open.

At that point, heavy construction will start to actually widen the future roadway. Starting at both the west and east ends (Chalmers and the 404) and working toward the middle at Pond Drive, work crews will get going on widening the road on one side, and putting in wide new boulevards. Once they have that first side done, they’ll switch sides.

Most of the widening and boulevard work west of 404 should be done by the end of this year. Once the work on the sides is finished, we’ll have to stop construction for the winter. In the spring of 2012 we’ll get going again, this time working down the middle to build the rapidway and stations.

Similar staging will be used for the eastern section, from the 404 to Town Centre then south to Enterprise, with most of the work to be done there in 2012 and 2013. The whole segment along Highway 7 East will be up and running in 2014.

The median removals require temporary lane closures during off-peak hours, and we know that is creating a bit of congestion. Fortunately, once this first short stage of work is over, our construction contractor, Kiewit-EllisDon (one of the largest construction companies in North America) will be able to minimize disruption as much as possible. They’ve planned the construction so that most of the time, all lanes will be kept open. If lanes are required to be closed, it generally won’t be during rush hour. Even though it’s a huge project, we’re counting on them to get it completed on schedule, and cause as little disruption as possible.

One of our priorities is to make sure it’s easy for drivers to drive through the construction zone, and ensure constant access to businesses and addresses along Highway 7. We’ll be installing construction signs, including electronic message signs, which will warn drivers if the road is congested up ahead, so you’ll know if you need to take an alternate route.

We will be keeping you updated on all the developments as they unfold, but there’s no doubt this is a major infrastructure project, and it’s going to take about three years to complete from one end to the other. So please, drive carefully, watch for signs showing where work is happening, and check your inbox for e-updates on what’s happening out there. If you haven’t signed up yet, now’s the time to register at vivaNext.com.