Highway 7 - Kitchener to Guelph

[KevinL]

Presumably west-bound Highway 7 drivers would get off on Wellington and then use Lancaster to get to Victoria or elsewhere downtown.

Or turn left from Wellington at the Edna Bruce extension to access Victoria more closely.

[Chris]

Here is a link to a page Bingemans prepared to show how the new interchange will work to get to their site.
http://bingemans.com/hwy7/phase2.html

Scroll your mouse over the options at the bottom of the page to see the suggested driving routes.

They also have a phase one version with Bingemans Drive extended to the end of Wellington N.
http://bingemans.com/hwy7/index.html

And a bus version.
http://bingemans.com/hwy7/transit.html

These are all on the same page. You can pick which version you want to see with the tabs at the top of the page.

[nms]

That's a neat tool that Bingeman's has created. Perhaps they can outshop this to various businesses that are trying to direct customers through LRT construction to their locations?

On a related note, I wonder how attractive the riverside campsites will be when they are tucked underneath the new bridge?

[JCnb]

Two apartment blocks at 61-63 Becker St. have been boarded up for a while now and now have a demolition permit under review by the city. The former Kitchener Glass plaza on Victoria at the end of Bruce is now vacant and boarded up as well as the adjacent Monarch Oil building. The Factory Shoe store has also moved next door to their old location. Hopefully these locations all get bulldozed soon, they are a bit of an eyesore.

In the latest google earth imagery you can also see a few locations which appear to have a ghost outline of future work where land has been purchased such as the Fountain - Ebycrest connection at Victoria.

[GtwoK]

Since it comes up a lot, here's an overview of the highway 7-85 interchange:

I've seen this image many times before, where are the other segments? I've never been able to find them. I'm sure there's got to be a pdf somewhere.

[Drake]

Kitchener’s Victoria Street bridge to be demolished
 

The Victoria Street bridge over Highway 85 will be removed and replaced this year with a wider bridge.
Waterloo Region Record

By Mathew McCarthy

[url=http://www.therecord.com/news-story/6371299-kitchener-s-victoria-street-bridge-to-be-demolished/#][/url]
KITCHENER — The Victoria Street bridge over Highway 85 must be removed and replaced with a wider span, as part of plans to build a new Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph.
And Shirley Avenue will be upgraded between Bingeman Centre Drive and the new Highway 7-85 interchange area.
Contractors want to work late and overnight on the first phases of the new, 18-kilometre stretch of Highway 7 between Highway 85 and Highway 6.
The province is asking for an exemption from Kitchener's noise control bylaw, so work along Shirley Avenue and Victoria Street can proceed without restriction. Kitchener's community services committee will consider the exemption March 7.
The bridge project is scheduled to start with advance utility relocation work this year. Bridge rebuilding will start in November 2017 and continue through 2018. According to a city report, the project includes:
• Closing Highway 85 overnight as the Victoria Street bridge is demolished overhead
• Lane restrictions along Highway 85 underneath as the bridge construction work proceeds
• Installing a centre median along Victoria between Edna and Bruce
• Intersection improvements at Bruce and Edna streets
The Shirley Avenue rebuilding is scheduled between June 2016 and August 2017, including:
• Extension and widening of Shirley to four lanes with centre turn lane, to match up with Bingeman Centre Drive
• Sidewalks along both sides of the new road
• A dead-end cul-de-sac of the existing street at 68 Shirley Ave.
Land purchases for the new Highway 7 started in 2012. Advance work including widening the Guelph Street underpass of Highway 85 was done in 2015.
In 2014, provincial officials said the new highway would be open in 2020.
The total cost of construction was estimated at $300 million. No updated estimate is available.


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[GtwoK]

The Victoria Street bridge over Highway 85 will be removed and replaced this year

Bridge rebuilding will start in November 2017

So which is it, Record?

In either case, I'm hoping the Bruce St extension to Wellington is done before bridge demolition. The bridge demolition will make getting around a real PITA, but being able to use Wellington as a bypass might help.

[BuildingScout]

The total cost of construction was estimated at $300 million. No updated estimate is available.

$300 million for a single overpass alone... It makes the LRT number look a lot more modest...

[plam]

The total cost of construction was estimated at $300 million. No updated estimate is available.

$300 million for a single overpass alone... It makes the LRT number look a lot more modest...

Roads are tremendously expensive. Not just this one, others too.

[Markster]

$300 million for a single overpass alone... It makes the LRT number look a lot more modest...

Well, for the entire interchange, which involves a few overpasses and bridges. But yeah. That's more than the local contribution for LRT.

[Canard]

Isn't this going to be Ontario's first 5-stack interchange, too?

I would love to see the media spin an article comparing those two costs (the entire LRT line vs. this one interchange). I suspect it'll never happen, though. Just would be refreshing, if a bit inhumane, to see some mud flung in the "other direction" for once.

[panamaniac]

Isn't this going to be Ontario's first 5-stack interchange, too?

I would love to see the media spin an article comparing those two costs (the entire LRT line vs. this one interchange).  I suspect it'll never happen, though.  Just would be refreshing, if a bit inhumane, to see some mud flung in the "other direction" for once.

Send an e-mail to Outhit.  I'm sure he'd be interested in doing a piece on this. 

[Markster]

Not quite a 5-stack. If highway 7 continued west through the interchange, then it probably would be. As it stands, there's really only 4 distinct levels.

[timc]

The total cost of construction was estimated at $300 million. No updated estimate is available.

$300 million for a single overpass alone... It makes the LRT number look a lot more modest...

Isn't that the estimate for the entire project? Each time they print a story about it, the Record points out that the government hasn't given an updated estimate since 2007.

[Markster]

$300 million for a single overpass alone... It makes the LRT number look a lot more modest...

Isn't that the estimate for the entire project? Each time they print a story about it, the Record points out that the government hasn't given an updated estimate since 2007.

Aha, yes, you're right:

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/5785...has-begun/

Back in 2007, the budget of the new highway was estimated at $300 million. There has not been a new estimate since.

I recall that the interchange accounted for roughly 50% of the cost.