At a special council meeting on March 16, councillors approved a noise bylaw exemption to permit night work on the Main St Streetscape project, Monday to Thursday from March 21 to April 8, 2022. The exemption will allow Dufferin Construction to expedite work on the Centre St intersection.
Construction on the multi-year project resumed on March 14 on the section of Main St from West St to Lorne St, which includes temporary closure of the Centre St intersection.
“[The contractors] understand this is a major intersection,” said Brandon Hall, civil engineering technologist for the Town. “[The night work is] to help expedite the work in the intersection.”
The noise exemption request is only for work on the intersection. “The contractor does not have permission to work on phase 4. Phase 4 from Centre to Lorne is just a lay down area for the construction equipment,” said Hall. “Once we’re done that intersection, there may be a possibility that they request to work nights up there.”
In response to a question from Mayor Karin Terziano, Hall said that notification about the overnight work will be going to affected residents this week.
Dufferin Construction will be working around the clock Monday through Thursday. Although their contract specifies only Monday to Thursday work, the crew also has the ability to work Fridays if there are delays caused by weather, for example, noted Hall. The area will remain fenced off until intersection work is complete.
Detours are in place to reroute traffic around the busy intersection, a topic that was also addressed at the meeting, specifically temporary one-way streets near the construction zone.
Staff requested a bylaw amendment to identify the following roads as temporary one-way streets:
- Caroline St W (Centre St to Lorne St N) – traffic flow is from East to West
- Lorne St N (Caroline St W to Main St) – traffic flow is from North to South
- Lorne St S (Main St to Minerva St W) – traffic flow is from North to South
- West St N (Main St to Caroline St E) – traffic flow is from South to North
“The intent of these one-way streets is to help with the traffic flow,” said Hall.
Councillor Withey questioned why West St N needs to be one-way.
“The purpose of the one-way on West Street North was simply for the traffic flow of trucks, so trucks can still enter and do deliveries onto Main Street from Brunel up to West. With two lanes of traffic going down West, they would not be able to make that turn,” said Hall, adding that miscommunication about sign placement did cause some confusion in that area as construction got underway this week.
Hall said that Town staff have also asked the contractor for flag persons at those intersections to help with traffic flow. “It will take a little bit for people to get used to,” he added.
In response to a request from Withey for a project update, Hall said, “They have started the remainder of phase 3 and stripped all the asphalt and all the crews are on site to get going.” Hall will be bringing a report with a full update on the project to the next regular council meeting on March 28.
At a community information session on March 10, Mark Misko, director of engineering and transportation for the District, said that the below-ground infrastructure work begun last year continues, including watermain replacement, sewer replacement, and stormwater replacement.
“All of this infrastructure is well past its useful lifespan, it needs to be replaced,” said Misko.
He added that they’ve been working with the school board to ensure students going to and from Huntsville Public School “are accommodated safely through [the Centre St intersection].” Pedestrian access along Main St between Lorne St and West St N remains fully open. As sidewalk work is completed near the end of the project, there will be some temporary sidewalk closures.
“Our main goal is to keep businesses up and running with storefront and pedestrian access as much as possible, and support vehicle access to the downtown core with additional parking,” said Misko.
Parking availability is posted at huntsville.ca.
The project is expected to be completed by early to mid-summer, said Misko.
For updates on the project, visit engagemuskoka.ca.
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