City drivers can’t count on Barrie’s Anne Street bridge being open for traffic by year’s end.
Ontario’s Transportation Ministry (MTO) said Tuesday that construction could instead stretch well into next year.
“The Anne Street bridge will open in early to mid-2023,” said Aruna Aundhia, senior media relations advisor with the MTO’s communications branch. “The completion of the Anne Street bridge project has been delayed until next year due to challenges outside of the ministry’s control, including weather.”
Aundhia didn’t say what the MTO’s other challenges were in finishing the Highway 400/Anne Street bridge replacement project. Just that the steel box girders were installed in early November and the contractor is currently working on forming and placing reinforcing steel for the concrete deck.
Following the concrete deck placement, remaining work includes the barrier walls, expansion joint installation, approach work and waterproofing/paving the deck. Most work is weather-dependent and this can affect the timing.
“We recognize the importance of this project to commuters and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause,” Aundhia said. “We are working to minimize the delay as much as possible.
“Currently, the Sunnidale, Essa and Dunlop (bridge) projects are on schedule and should not be impacted by the Anne Street bridge,” she added.
The MTO demolished Barrie’s Anne Street bridge over Highway 400 in early June 2021 in order to build a replacement. The bridge closure was anticipated to last approximately 18 months, until November, which expires Wednesday.
Also underway and affected city traffic is the Essa Road-Highway 400 interchange reconstruction project, with an estimated completion in 2025, according to the city’s website. This project includes widening Essa Road to six lanes from four between the Bryne Drive-Ardagh Road intersection and the Fairview Road intersection, a multi-use pathway on Essa’s north side, along with replacing the Highway 400 bridge at Essa Road to accommodate the highway’s future widening to 10 lanes.
It also includes reconstructing the Highway 400/Essa Road interchange, including the addition of a dedicated ramp from eastbound Essa to the southbound 400 and a new bridge to allow the ramp to cross the commercial access road in the southwest quadrant of the interchange.
Traffic signals at the new ramp terminals will be replaced, as will storm sewers. Culverts will be extended and there will be other storm-water management measures. There will also be median wall concrete barrier improvements, pavement rehabilitation and safety upgrades.
While Essa/400 construction staging has been developed to minimize traffic disruptions, short-duration lane and ramp closures are required and detour routes provided. Temporary carpool lot closures will be required, but one will remain open at any given time.
The Sunnidale Road underpass bridge will also be replaced. This project includes pavement resurfacing for the 400 from south of Sunnidale Road to north of Bayfield Street, including its roadway and ramps, median replacement, drainage improvements and an extension of the Kidd’s Creek culvert.
The MTO says construction of the Sunnidale Road bridge replacement is anticipated to begin in 2023, but the timing of projects is subject to change — based on funding, planning approvals, design, property acquisition and construction requirements. Relocation of utilities and any other preparatory works will begin in advance of construction.
The ministry says the replaced Sunnidale Road bridge will be two lanes and widened to accommodate the future widening to 10 lanes of Highway 400.
Also, the Dunlop Street underpass will be lengthened to accommodate future widening of Highway 400 to 10 lanes and the highway’s pavement will be rehabilitated from south of Dunlop Street to south of Anne Street. Two culverts will be replaced under Highway 400, as will various culverts within the Dunlop Street interchange. The median storm sewer and median barrier within the Highway 400 reconstruction limits will also be replaced.
Neither the MTO website nor the city’s have information on when the Dunlop Street underpass and related work will begin, or be complete.
These projects also includes pavement resurfacing of Highway 400 from north of Dunlop Street to north of Sunnidale Road, and from north of Bayfield Street to north of St. Vincent Street. Highway 400 will have its median barrier replaced, there will be drainage improvements within the resurfacing limits and the installation of noise walls in the vicinity of Anne, Bayfield and Duckworth streets.
These projects continue construction designed to ease traffic congestion both on and off Highway 400.
The Harvie Road/Big Bay Point Road/Highway 400 crossing, for example, was completed in early summer 2021. It connects Harvie Road to Big Bay Point Road across the 400. The bridge has five lanes for vehicle traffic, two separate lanes for bicycles and two sidewalks for pedestrians. The $76-million crossing can handle 20,000 vehicles a day and is designed to significantly reduce volumes on Essa Road, Mapleview Drive and other streets in the area.
