Hamilton residents brace themselves as ‘construction season’ begins

That time of year is returning to the City of Hamilton: the birds are chirping, the flowers are blooming and construction is starting on several projects across the city.

One example includes projects like the $46 million Waterdown road project, which is expected to wrap up later this year.

But there are a couple of projects in Hamilton that kicked off Monday morning.

Driving in downtown Hamilton is a bit of a headache right now, as crews do watermain work from Dundurn Street South to Victoria Street South.

While some residents think the traffic is bad now, the City of Hamilton will embark on a major project in the fall to turn Main Street into a two-way — they want to get the watermain work finished first.

WATCH MORE: Construction begins on Hamilton’s Main Street restricting lanes for six months

“Rather than do a two-way conversion and improvement on Main Street, we get the underground work completed now, so we don’t have to dig it up in the future,” said Ed English, a manager with the City of Hamilton.

Residents in the area say construction anywhere is frustrating, but they admit that it has to happen.

Some say that the city will be better when it’s done, but until then however long it takes means traveling is “just not going to be fun.”

The Sherman Cut closed Monday morning and will remain that way until early September so crews can work on the steel barriers, road resurfacing, and drainage issues.

“The first thing they’ll be doing is removing the steel bin walls, which Hamiltonians are fairly familiar with, we’ve had them all over the escarpment — they’ll be removing that,” said English. “They’ll scale the escarpment walls that are on either side of Sherman Cut.”

READ MORE: Preparation underway for Hwy. 5 and 6 interchange construction in Waterdown

But residents in the area say the $4.1 million project is going to cause traffic issues for sure, as more than 21,000 drivers use the access daily.

One resident said that the rocks that line the escarpment are a key concern, despite any construction there becoming a major inconvenience.

The Chedoke Stairs were closed Monday morning as well, where crews could replace the stair treads, which city staff say have reached “end of life.” That work should be wrapped up by Thursday morning.

Another major project that will definitely impact driving around the city is a resurfacing of Barton Street East between Victoria Avenue North and Kenilworth Avenue North, and the city hopes that project to get underway in the next few months.

READ MORE: Over 1,000 Hamiltonians transform Jamesville construction site into outdoor art gallery