Staff Report #4
November 27, 2024
To All Commissioners
Re: 2024 Road Construction and Special Events Update
Recommendation
The report be NOTED and FILED.
Background
As has been the case over the past number of years, the City of London has and will be undertaking a large number of construction projects during the 2024 construction season, many of which will have impacts to transit routes and schedule adherence.
London Transit administration will continue to work closely with civic administration as well as the specific contractors on each major construction 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.
Downtown Loop Phase III and Wellington Gateway Phase I
With lane painting completed, Routes 1, 3, 5, 7, 13 and 90 resumed regular routing along Wellington effective November 18.
In preparation for the transit signal activation in the downtown corridor, all bus Operators have received training and communications on the new infrastructure and the manner in which vehicular movement will occur at the affected intersections. The transit signals along the downtown corridor were activated the week of November 18, and consistent with the start of the new signup period on November 24, all routes are able to fully utilize the transit lanes throughout the loop including making turning movements from the transit lanes with the protected transit signal phases. This also allows Routes 5 and 7 to be able to serve the stop at Queens and Ridout before making the turn onto Ridout.
Wellington Gateway Phase III
Stage I of Wellington Gateway Phase III commenced in mid-July spanning Wellington between Harlech Gate and Wilkins. During this stage of construction, the westbound to northbound merge lane from Southdale to Wellington has been closed. As a result of the northbound merge lane being closed, westbound traffic on Southdale has been significantly impacted with significant queuing occurring. This has resulted in impacts to schedule adherence on routes travelling in this area. In addition, all stops north of Southdale to Wilkins in the northbound direction have been closed.
All traffic has been shifted to the southbound lanes, resulting in one lane in each direction throughout the limits of phase III. While it was initially anticipated that some temporary stop locations could be established during construction, concerns have been raised by the construction company and as such there will not be any stops in either direction between Harlech Gate and Wilkins. This results in approximately a 1.7km gap between stops in either direction. This will be further compounded by the stop closures for the Wellington Gateway Phase IV construction (see details below).
Similar to Wellington Gateway IV, the work will occur over multiple years with finishing work anticipated in 2026.
Wellington Gateway Phase IV
All traffic has been shifted to the southbound lanes on Wellington between Southdale and Greenfield Road. All northbound stops within the project limits have been closed. Southbound stops at Wellington and Harlech Gate and Wellington south of Montgomery Gate remain open to provide access in the area during this phase of construction. This phase of the Rapid Transit construction is scheduled to last over multiple construction seasons with the finishing work anticipated to be completed by the end of July 2026.
Conversations are continuing with the City and the contractor to ensure that entrance and egress is maintained into White Oaks Mall from Wellington during the construction to allow transit service to continue to service the mall.
On November 18, traffic on Bradley was shifted to the north side of the road. This has allowed for a dedicated left turn lane to be reopened at Bradley and Wellington which has resulted in better traffic flow in the area. Schedule adherence impacts on Routes 10, 13A and 95 have been significantly reduced in the westbound direction with this change. The current configuration of traffic on Bradley is set to be in place until the end of December.
East London Link Phase III A
Work commenced on Dundas Street between Egerton and McCormick Blvd for Phase III A of the East London Link Rapid Transit project on March 18, 2024. Work for this phase of the construction will be broken down into stages with one lane in each direction remaining open for the majority of the construction period. Work is currently taking place on Dundas between Egerton and Kellogg Lane in the center lanes resulting in a single lane in each direction.
In early August, work started on Dundas between Kellogg Lane and McCormick Blvd. As with the previous phases, a single lane in each direction will remain open.
All work on the East London Link Phase III A project is scheduled to be completed by mid-December 2024 and is not anticipated to have any carry-over work into 2025.
East London Link Phase III B
Work on Phase III B (Highbury Ave Bridge) is scheduled to begin in the coming weeks. At this time details on impacts to transit and overall traffic flow in the area are not known. Updates will be provided as more details become available.
East London Link Phase III C
Construction along Highbury Ave north of the overpass to Oxford Street began in mid-February.
Construction will be completed in phases with each phase having a different impact on transit. Due to the limited options for detours, Route10 is continuing to operate along Highbury for the duration of the construction.
Due to schedule adherence concerns with Route 95, it was determined it was best to detour the route to operate along First Street. With the stop closures already in place along Highbury the detour only misses one additional stop and has improved reliability of the route significantly. Unlike Route 10, Route 95 terminates at Fanshawe College making the detour option more feasible. The detour will remain in place until the work on Highbury has been completed.
Currently all stops northbound and Southbound along Highbury between the Regional Mental Health Lands and Landor (just south of Cheapside) are closed as well as the eastbound stops on Oxford between Highbury and Mornington. This is currently resulting in a 900-meter walk for passengers to be able to transfer from a northbound bus to an eastbound bus. While these closures were initially anticipated until the end of July, current construction set up requires the stops to remain closed. At this time there is no information as to when stops may be able to be reopened in order to reduce the distance for connections. Traffic shifts will be happening in the coming weeks along both Highbury and Oxford, however as stops are already closed in both directions throughout the project limit, this change is not anticipated to have any additional impacts to passengers.
Adelaide Street North Underpass
Four lanes of traffic have opened on Adelaide, resulting in some bus stops being able to be reopened. Stops at McMahen northbound and Pall Mall southbound remain closed due to ongoing finishing work in the area. Full project completion is set for Summer 2025.
Special Events
Argyle Santa Claus Parade
The Argyle Santa Claus Parade is scheduled for Saturday December 7 starting at 11 am. The parade route will follow Dundas between Parsons and Hale Street. Routes serving Argyle Mall will be detoured during this time.
Communications
The underlying goals with respect to communication regarding detours are to provide passengers and Operators with as much information as far in advance as possible, noting that dates and impacts can change without notice. Accomplishing both of these goals requires a balanced approach. A communication strategy has been developed which includes posting information on internal boards, the website, real-time alerts and social media as well as through stop level notifications which will provide passengers with information regarding which stops are closed and direct them to the closest stop location. On road inspectors are completing daily audits of all stop closures and temporary stop locations to ensure detailed information is available at the stop level to assist passengers in navigating the detours.
Recommended by:
Katie Burns, Director of Planning
David Butler, Manager, Operations Administration
Concurred in by:
Kelly S. Paleczny, General Manager