A major $6.6 million reconstruction project, requiring seven stages of work will soon get underway to widen Highway 11 and 17 at Seymour Street in North Bay.
The public was given the opportunity to meet with officials at City Hall during an open house, to discuss what the plans entail and what efforts will be made to minimize the impact of interruptions to the travelling public as the work progresses.
“The first stage is a cross culvert just south of the railway tracks, and that will get going within the next couple of weeks. The beauty of that project is it will take four or five days, but it is all at night time,” explained Gerry McCrank senior project manager with the City of North Bay.
“So between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., the contractor will be on site installing pipe across the four lanes of traffic. So that will be their first thing, and after that, they’ll start with the storm sewer heading south from the outlet, along the side of the road in stages.”
The end result will be a wider road and improved ride.
“The whole road will be milled and repaved so it will be a smoother ride through the intersection. There will be dual left-hand turns on the eastbound, southbound and westbound lanes of the intersection. Everything will be upgraded with new street lights, traffic lights,” said McCrank.
“We are going to put a new westbound right-hand turn lane in. That is the only section right now that does not have a designated right turn lane, so that will be added.”
Feedback from the open house was positive once people understood the work will maintain traffic through the area.
“We’ve been involved with ambulance, so they’ve been aware of this project ever since they put their new facility on Seymour. I know after talking to the EMS people who were here tonight, that they’ve already had a meeting with the contractor so that if there are any problems, they can get ahold of each other. They seem happy that they’re having this pre-construction conversation.”
David Barber of Northern Honda says in the short term, the construction work will be disruptive to business.
“Long-term, big picture, it is well over-due. It is needed greatly. I think short-term we’re going to feel a bit of traffic flow issues, but future growth of all the businesses in the area and North Bay, are incumbent on this happening.”
Barber expects disruptions at certain times of the day, but adds as long as the summer traffic doesn’t get backed up, local traffic should be able to flow through at a reasonable rate.
“As a local business owner, we’ve been hearing rumours about the expropriation of the property and having this coming from the east side eventually spreading to all four areas. We kind of got excited when we knew it was going to get expanded beyond the one way. It is just now working together, and hopefully, the schedule allows traffic to flow through, and I’m excited for North Bay to have this.”
McCrank says it is construction, so people need to expect delays.
“The thing that is probably going to slow people down is, because of the construction, we have reduced the speed limit through there to 60 km. It is not only for the safety of the drivers, it is for the safety of the workers. There are certain construction activities that will require a lane to be shut down temporarily, and that will cause some delay,” said McCrank.
“One thing we have told the contractor is early morning and during the home drive, we do not shut down any lanes on Highway 17. We want to make sure people can still get through there as fast as possible. But people need to realize that any time we have construction, especially in a tight intersection like this, there are going to be delays, be patient, we’re going to get you through. It is a two year bit of pain, but in the end, there’s a gain.”
He says the MTO and the City of North Bay have an agreement that provides for a 50/50 split of all the costs.
The final stage of the project is expected to wrap up by late summer or early fall of 2020.
