Kenilworth Access upbound closed 3 weeks

(Update)

It’s the beginning of the long weekend and traffic will be slow — not going to the cottage but up and down the Hamilton mountain. That is thanks to rock slides that have caused closures on upbound lanes of the Kenilworth access and a single downward lane on the Claremont access.

When you look at the Kenilworth access, it appears to be clear. All of the rocks have been swept away. But after Thursday’s rock slide, access up the mountain remains closed. Traffic is being re-routed to the Sherman access which causes a large back up during peak driving hours.

The superintendent of traffic operations says the Sherman cut will operate both ways, but it could be modified so that it uses all lanes to go up the mountain during afternoon rush hour.

Chris Jacobson, City of Hamilton: “That’s something we are giving consideration to. But at this point in time, until we can see what traffic does and how it settles out over the next couple of days, we’re not prepared to make any changes just yet.”

And if that weren’t enough — part of another Hamilton access may be closed permanently due to rock slides. Today the retaining wall of the Claremont access ruptured and city crews are evaluating.

This part of the road is no stranger to rock slides. The wall failed on a much larger section two years ago closing the right lane of the down bound traffic.

Now the city has the entire public works department scaling rocks and inspecting the area.

Sam Merulla: “When we are combating mother nature it becomes very problematic in trying to defeat it. We have to try and take a step back, take a deep breath and put it in perspective and use whatever engineering expertise to find whatever issues might exist.”

In the month of April, Hamilton saw one hundred and 20 millimeters of rain. In the past two days — 60 millimeters. And it could be a big factor in the mud and rock slides on the escarpment.

Speaking with Councilor Tom Jackson, he says they are taking proactive measures to prevent any future rock slides. In one week, Jackson plans on meeting with the city’s traffic operations to see if the re-routing plan is really working. As of right now, the Sherman cut will continue to run with two-way traffic during the closure.