Part of Hamilton’s Dundurn St. South closed until end of July

Another lane closure near the already congested Main and Dundurn streets intersection in Hamilton started today and will last for five weeks.

The northbound lane of Dundurn Street South will be fully closed between Main Street West and Hill Street until the end of July, as City of Hamilton construction crews will be working on watermain pipes in the area and restoration.

CHCH News spoke with a business owner in the area, who said some customers can’t get to them because of the construction.

“It takes over an hour, so that’s not happening yet, so the people — they’re stuck in the traffic, so that’s why they don’t come,” said Rahul Chettri, who owns Shehnai Restaurant at the corner of Main Street West across from New Street.

Chettri said the construction has deeply impacted his business and had to close early Monday.

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“The customers always say, ‘why don’t you complain in the city?’ and when we tried to complain, nobody listened to us,” said Chettri.

In a project notice to property owners in the area, the City of Hamilton explained that, “it is necessary to carry out this work during this timeframe, to minimize disruptions to traffic, impacts on local businesses and interruptions to water operations.”

CHCH News spoke with some commuters and people getting around on foot, who said the intersection at Dundurn Street South and Main Street West, where the highway starts coming off of, is getting more frustrating to navigate as traffic snakes around the construction.

Road work near Strathcona Avenue South and Main Street West has reduced available lanes down to one.

The notice from the city goes on to recognize that “this will be an inconvenience and every effort will be made to keep it to a minimum.”

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Unfortunately on day one of construction, there was a three vehicle accident on Main Street West near Strathcona Avenue South — no injuries were reported and the cause is not yet known, but one of the drivers spoke with CHCH news and said the level of traffic caused by the construction is frustrating.

Hamilton city staff said in a statement that, “they recognize that Dundurn and Main Street are both undergoing construction projects at the same time, for two separate projects, and maintain that this timeframe is going to stay in place unless weather gets in the way.”

Some detour suggestions include using Frid Street to get to Main Street West and Locke Street to access York Boulevard.

The months-long construction project continues in the city’s downtown core, paving the way for Main Street’s conversion to two-way traffic.

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