The five-year project to reconstruct Dundas Street between Hespeler Road and Franklin Boulevard is well underway, including efforts that lay the groundwork for a roundabout at one of the region’s busiest intersections.
Regional staff tabled the plan to complete expropriation of 10 properties directly impacted by the addition of a roundabout at Main and Dundas streets during last week’s committee of the whole meeting.
The move to attain formal council approval for the expropriations comes two years in advance of the planned construction, which will take up to two years to complete. Main and Dundas is ranked 35th for collisions on the region's list of troubled intersections.
The affected properties include one home on the southwest corner of the intersection, 355 Main St., which will require full expropriation, and partial expropriation or temporary easement of nine other properties, including the Canadian Tire and Esso gas station.
The region began consulting with property owners in 2019 when a report on the roundabout plan stated the home at 355 Main St. would be “significantly impacted” by the current design, but noted efforts were underway to minimize that impact.
Project manager Greg Proctor said ultimately the roundabout couldn't be built without impacting the home due to grading on the property.
Once expropriation is initiated, “affected property owners have 30 days to request a hearing to consider whether the expropriation is ‘fair, sound and reasonably necessary in the achievement of the objectives” of the Region of Waterloo,’” reads the report.
The five-year project to improve the 4.5 kilometre stretch of Dundas between Hespeler Road and Franklin Boulevard is expected to cost less than the original budget of $26.6 million, said Proctor.
It includes two roundabouts, the addition of on-street bike lanes between Roxboro Road and Franklin, new sidewalks, and a plan to widen existing sidewalks where feasible.
The project was outlined during a May 2019 public information centre at the Galt Arena Gardens that was attended by 67 residents. The region also collected public feedback online.
Work on the first roundabout at Dundas and Beverly, which is ranked 34th on the region’s list of intersections with the most collisions, is slated to begin this year with utility relocation. It will be followed next year by in-the-ground work.
Expropriations needed for the roundabout were minor.
Proctor confirmed no buildings will be impacted by the roundabout design and said side access to the Q-BBQ and Public House restaurant on Beverly Street will be maintained.
The work will be completed on the same contract as "significant rehabilitation" of the CN railway overpass north of Cambridge Street. The budget for the bridge project, which includes cycling lanes, is pegged at $2 million and will take two years to complete.
Work shifts toward Main Street and beyond in 2023.
The Elgin Street to Hespeler Road reconstruction of Dundas has a budget of $5 million, funded mainly by the region’s transportation capital reserve fund.
The entire project has been staged to minimize traffic disruption. The work at Main and Dundas is expected to take three full construction seasons to complete.
Construction along Main Street, from Chalmers Street to Franklin Boulevard, is part of the overall project and will cost the region $5.4 million, including design work. Main Street will also get cycling lanes.
The City of Cambridge is funding its portion of the project, which includes replacing storm and sanitary sewers, installing new water main, and rehabilitating the Soper Park pedestrian underpass this year, to the tune of about $3 million.
Proctor said the work includes replacing an old retaining wall next to the Gore Mutual Insurance building.
The full scope of the work is expected to be completed by 2025.