MTO release construction plans for Highway 7 expansion
Posted Oct 24, 2014 02:03:48 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Ministry of Transportation has confirmed that construction will start next spring for the Highway 7 expansion.
Workers will first start by widening the Conestoga Parkway overpass over Guelph Street in Kitchener. Following that, crews will begin work on widening Victoria Street in Kitchener, which will include bridge replacement work, and then building the Shirley Avenue extension.
The MTO confirms they’re still in the process of acquiring land for the project.
“There are approximately 143 properties that we need in order to construct this new highway” says Liane Fisher, MTO Spokesperson. “About 84 of those require expropriation. Some of the lands required for the project are hydro and railway lands, so that land will be transferred through another process. We’ve also reached agreements with the owners of 57 properties, and we will continue to negotiate with the remaining property owners even through the expropriation process.”
All of those properties are expected to be in the province’s hands by January 23rd of 2015.
The total cost for land acquisition is pegged at $70 Million dollars, but an exact cost for the total project has not been released.
An exact date for the end of construction is not known, but Fisher says it will take approximately five construction seasons.
