Major intersection in Hamilton’s east end closes for LRT-related upgrades

A major intersection in Hamilton’s east end closed Monday morning as part of LRT-related construction expected to take around four months to complete.

Construction in the area near Ottawa Street North and Main Street East began earlier last month, but as of Monday morning, traffic will be closed in all directions.

The roads will be seeing an infrastructure improvement as part of a project supporting the future construction of the Hamilton LRT, including watermain and sewer installation, road reconstruction and resurfacing, and utility relocations.

“Over the next coming days, we’ll have some material dropped off,” said Dennis Perusin, senior manager at Hamilton’s LRT Project office. “We’ll also be installing what we call a sewer bypass, basically taking the water that runs through some of the sewer pipes now, diverting them over land and downstream to a safe location where it can be discharged.”

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Local access will be maintained where possible and pedestrian access will not be affected.

“So what our plan is, because this intersection contains probably some of the most complicated watermains that we have here that delivers water to residents and businesses and reservoirs here in the lower Hamilton, what we’ve done is we phased the job to shut down watermains in a sequence to ensure that everybody still has water supply, to allow our crews to carry out the work safely and get it done as quick as we possibly can,” said Perusin.

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People will be able to travel along either Ottawa or Main streets using marked paths.

Drivers are advised to use detour routes along Cannon Street East, and King Street East between Gage and Kenilworth avenues.

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City staff say they have permitted left turns onto Cannon Street East from Kenilworth Avenue during the construction.

Delays are to be expected and drivers are advised to plan ahead, and to be extra cautious when travelling near construction zones.

HSR bus routes including the 1/1A – King, the B-Line Express and the 41 – Mohawk will be taking detours around the construction.

City staff say when school resumes in September, parents can drop kids off on Dunsmure Road, and crossing guards will be in place.

More details on the road closure can be found on the City of Hamilton’s official website here.

READ MORE: Major Hamilton intersection closing for four months starting Monday