Staff Report #7
March 31, 2021
To All Commissioners
Re: Impact of 2021 Road Construction – Conventional Transit Service
Recommendation
The report be NOTED and FILED.
Background
As has been the case over the past number of years, the City of London will be undertaking a large number of construction projects during the 2021 construction season, many of which will have impacts to transit routes and schedule adherence. As set out in the table below, the city has prioritized the top ten major construction projects for this year and eight of them will have significant impacts on transit service. The majority of the projects are scheduled to commence in the spring and are projected to continue until Fall/Winter 2021.
2021 Transit Impacts of Summer Construction Projects
| Project | Construction Limits | Duration | Impacted Routes |
| Downtown Loop Phase I | King Street between Ridout and Wellington | April 5- December 2021 | 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 13, 19, 20, 90, 94 &102 |
| Adelaide Street North Underpass | Adelaide between Central to McMahen | 2021-2022 | 16 |
| Dundas Old East Village | Dundas between Adelaide and English | 2021-2022 | 2, 20 & 94 |
| Dundas Street Thames Valley Parkway Connection | Kensington Bridge | April 5- July 2021 | 2, 9, 12, 19, 20, 94, 102, 106 |
| Wenige Expressway Bridge Renewal | Highbury Ave between Hamilton Rd and the south branch of the Thames River | March 15- December 2021 | 10 |
| Hyde Park & Sunningdale Roundabout | Intersection of Hyde Park and Sunningdale | Spring-Fall 2021 | N/A |
| Brydges Street Reconstruction | Brydges between Egerton and Highbury | Phase 1- Egerton to Childers- Late Spring- Late Fall 2021
Phase 2- Childers to Highbury Spring-Fall 2022 |
Impacts to buses leaving and returning to the Highbury garage. Greatest impact will be during phase 2 with the closure of the Brydges and Oakland intersection |
| Brydges/Wavell Bike Lane | Brydges/Wavell between Highbury and Clarke Road | Late Spring 2021- End of 2021 | 7 |
| Mornington Storm Management Pond Expansion | Salisbury Street from Quebec Street to Glasgow Street, Glasgow Street from Salisbury Street to Connaught Avenue, and Connaught Avenue from Glasgow Street to the west entrance of McCormick Park | Spring-Fall 2021 | 20 |
| Wortley Road | Wortley between Devonshire and Briscoe | Spring- Late Fall 2021 | N/A |
While most of the construction projects only impact a limited number of routes, the overall impacts of the construction are anticipated to cause schedule adherence issues for surrounding routes, due to other vehicles being detoured away from the construction area. Additionally, as was the case over the past 3 years, the construction work in the downtown will have a significant impact on reliability for all routes travelling through the area as other vehicles are diverted along transit routes.
Detours
Set out below are details of the upcoming construction projects that will be commencing in the coming days and their related impacts.
Downtown Loop Phase I
Construction is scheduled to begin on the first phase of the Downtown Loop for the London Rapid Transit project on April 5, 2021. Phase I includes King street between Ridout and Wellington, which will be broken down into smaller sub-phases throughout the 2021 construction season. To help reduce confusion with passengers knowing where the buses are operating and maintain a consistent detour throughout the project, all eastbound buses on King Street will be detoured to York between Ridout and Wellington for the entirety of the construction on King Street.
Kensington Bridge
Construction is set to begin the week of April 4, 2021 to implement a cycle lane on the Kensington Bridge to Ridout Street. A single lane of traffic is to be maintained throughout the construction, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of July. At the time of writing it is not anticipated that transit routes will need to be detoured, however delays are expected due to the reduced capacity on the bridge.
Old East Village Phase II
Construction resumed on Dundas between Adelaide and English on Monday March 15, 2021. This is a continuation of the work completed in 2020 for the reconstruction of Dundas in Old East Village, including the implementation of a cycle track. Routes 2, 20 and 94 will be detoured to King and Queens throughout the construction season. London Transit Administration will continue to work with Civic Administration to determine if existing bus stops along Dundas will need to be relocated once construction is completed.
Highbury South – Wenige Expressway Bridge Rehabilitation
Construction resumed on the Wenige Expressway Bridge rehabilitation on Highbury between Hamilton Road and the south branch of the Thames River on Monday March 15, 2021. While Route 10 is not required to detour during the construction, significant delays are anticipated which will impact schedule adherence. Administration will continue to monitor the impact the construction is having on Route 10 and make adjustments as required.
LTC administration has been working closely with civic administration, attending weekly meetings as well as the specific contractors on each project to ensure regular communication regarding the status of the projects in an effort to mitigate the impact of construction on service and ridership by allowing buses to operate in work zones where it is deemed safe to do so.
LTC administration has developed and implemented a communications strategy with respect to service interruptions in an effort to ensure passengers and Operators are aware of the detours with as much advance notice as possible, including stop level notifications of upcoming closures, website and Infoweb alerts, Twitter and internal screens and postings.
Updates will be provided to the Commission on a regular basis as the construction progresses.
Recommended by:
Katie Burns, Director of Planning
Shawn Wilson, Director of Operations
Concurred in by:
Kelly S. Paleczny, General Manager