There’s no detour for Barrie drivers trying to get away from road and bridge construction, especially what’s connected to Highway 400.
Just this past weekend, for example, Essa Road under Highway 400 was closed overnight, as well as Essa Road westbound to the southbound Highway 400 ramp, Saturday to Sunday, for demolition of the old bridge that’s being replaced by Ontario’s Transportation Ministry (MTO).
And the Anne Street bridge, closed for nearly two years, reopened in early June after long snarling traffic in that area.
Practically just as the Anne Street bridge opened, Sunnidale Road, between Letitia and Wellington streets, and including the Sunnidale bridge, closed for the Sunnidale Road new transmission water main project, a City of Barrie effort.
During a recent presentation by city infrastructure staff, Coun. Amy Courser asked about the degree of co-ordination and collaboration between the MTO and city for the construction of roads and Highway 400 bridges.
“The MTO respects our request when we say that certain bridges can’t be closed at the same time. I don’t think they’ve ever even proposed that,” said Kelly Oakley, Barrie’s associate director of corporate asset management. “They have that sort of common-sense approach that they wouldn’t close multiple bridges as the same time.
“We are a little bit at their mercy when they publish their construction schedules, but once they understand that we have to relocate trunk sanitary sewers in the case of Dunlop, or Sunnidale, they obviously defer their projects so they can accommodate (Barrie).”
Oakley said city officials meet with the MTO several times a year to ensure there is co-ordination of projects.
But the councillor questions didn’t end there.
Coun. Bryn Hamilton asked what many a Barrie driver has pondered: Were on- and off-ramps considered for the Harvie Road crossing, which connects Harvie to Big Bay Point Road, over but not onto the 400?
“Yes, considered, but we decided — the MTO, too — that an on-ramp/off-ramp would not fit there,” said Bala Araniyasundaran, the city’s general manager of infrastructure and growth management.
“The one thing with these ramps is you can’t have them too close, meaning you can’t have too many exits and entrances,” he added. “There are certain guidelines with respect to how close they can be, so that traffic can move in an orderly way.
“I think that was a big consideration in doing away with the on-ramp and off-ramp at Harvie-Big Bay (Point),” Araniyasundaran said.
The Harvie Road crossing was completed in early summer 2021. The bridge has five lanes for vehicle traffic, two separate lanes for bicycles and two sidewalks for pedestrians.
This $76-million bridge can handle 20,000 vehicles a day and is designed to significantly reduce traffic volumes on Essa Road, Mapleview Drive and other streets in the area.
But it is Barrie’s other highway overpass bridges and the 400 underpasses that are now causing Barrie drivers grief.
The MTO demolished Barrie’s Anne Street bridge over Highway 400 in early June 2021, in order to build a replacement, a closure originally scheduled to last approximately 18 months, or until November 2022. Poor weather delayed the bridge completion, however.
The Anne Street bridge project included replacing it with a larger structure that includes wide sidewalks and a wider bridge deck to improve traffic operations and active transportation, such as walking and cycling.
There are also improvements at the intersections of Anne Street and Edgehill Drive, along with Anne and Donald streets.
There has also been major work done on Highway 400 to make way for the new bridge, which will be large enough for a wider Highway 400 in the future.
The Sunnidale Road new transmission water main project includes relocation of the existing storm sewer, sanitary sewer and distribution water main. The new and relocated water mains will travel under Highway 400 through a new trenchless crossing north of Sunnidale Road.
Then there’s the MTO’s Sunnidale bridge replacement project. It includes pavement resurfacing for Highway 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 has said construction timing of the Sunnidale Road bridge replacement is based on funding, planning approvals, design, property acquisition and construction requirements. Utility relocation and any other preparatory works will begin in advance of construction.
The ministry has said the replaced Sunnidale Road bridge will be two lanes and widened to accommodate the future widening to 10 lanes of Highway 400.
Last but certainly not least is the Dunlop Street interchange with the 400 and a trunk-sewer relocation estimated to be complete in July of 2024, according to the city.
This work includes relocating the trunk sanitary sewer along Cedar Pointe Drive, from Dunlop Street to Edgehill Drive, and abandoning the existing sewer abutting the Highway 400 right-of-way. The sewer will cross Highway 400 south of the existing interchange and connect to the existing main at Hart Drive.
Replacement of the Dunlop Street underpass bridge at Highway 400, and re-configuring the Dunlop Street interchange, the MTO says, also includes lengthening the Dunlop Street underpass to accommodate the future widening of Highway 400 to 10 lanes. This work also includes widening the Dunlop Street bridge, a Highway 400 pavement rehabilitation from south of Dunlop to south of Anne Street, and reconfiguring the Highway 400-Dunlop interchange on-ramps, off-ramps and intersections.
It will also include installing a noise wall at the previously approved northbound on-ramp, replacing two culverts under Highway 400 and various culverts within the Dunlop Street interchange and replacing median storm sewer and median barrier within Highway 400 reconstruction limits.
