King Street north of Victoria open for drivers

The much anticipated day is finally here: King Street north of Victoria is back in business, and open for to cars and trucks.

But there are a few other milestones drivers can celebrate as the LRT project nears completion.

By the time the weekend wraps up, all final paving work will be completed along the ION route, that is according to GrandLinq’s Avril Fisken.

“We have made great progress and expect to establish final asphalt on all roads along the LRT route this week. That means that all roads where ION will travel, when operational, will be open to traffic by the end of this coming weekend.”

She also says there will be less GrandLinq trucks on roads as well, which she says is a great indication that the work is almost done.

GrandLinq says they are about 99.5 per cent done the work needed to get the ION up and running.

What has been completed so far:

• 100 per cent of the kilometres of new underground pipe has been completed
• 99 per cent of the LRT track has been laid
• 100 per cent of the polls and foot of the overhead catenary system is in place
• 99 per cent of the new side walks are in place
• 99 per cent of the new LRT stops are up and ready to go

 

Fisken says there is some small work needs to be completed this weekend along Northfield from Weber to Davenport, King from Kumpf to Colby, and also on Courtland from Manitou to Hayward but ensure the work will be completed by the end of the weekend.

For those taking the bus, Grand River Transit says buses on Route 7 will remain on their current detours for a few more weeks, returning to its normal routing on King Street between Gaukel and William on Sept 4th.

Meantime, Route 200 will travel on Park Street between Victoria and William and provide iXpress service to Grand River Hospital. GRT says Both buses can’t run on King Street because of the narrower width of the street. Route 7 buses stop more frequently and would delay the Route 200.