MANITOULIN—Islanders can expect a number of roadwork projects over the spring and summer months.
Work continues on the replacement of the Highway 540 Graham Creek Bridge, east of Hwy 551. The bridge will be replaced in two stages, the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) reports. Traffic will be reduced to one lane and managed by temporary traffic signals. Work began on the replacement last week and will continue to late summer. The first year of the contract in 2015 rehabilitated Highway 551 from the intersection of Highway 540 southerly to Highway 542 at Mindemoya, and Highway 542 through Mindemoya.
“This phase of the work is essentially complete with the exception of some final clean-up of contractors’ materials,” said Gordan Rennie, MTO spokesperson. The prime contractor is Pioneer Construction and the subcontractor for the bridgework is Belanger Construction.
Another project began this spring to rehabilitate approximately 16 kilometres of Highway 540 from Kagawong to Gore Bay, and approximately one kilometre of Highway 540B from the intersection of Highway 540/542 northerly. The contract was awarded to Pioneer Construction at a value of $11,107,109.10. In addition to pavement rehabilitation, this work involves replacement of several concrete culverts and a bridge replacement as follows: Ice Lake Culvert, single lane detour with portable temporary traffic signals; Witty’s Creek Culvert, single lane detour with portable temporary traffic signals; Burnt Creek Culvert, single lane detour with portable temporary traffic signals; Kagawong Creek Bridge, single lane detour with temporary traffic signals; and Kagawong Creek Channel rehabilitation, with minimal impact to traffic, possibly short-term single lane closure managed by traffic control persons.
As part of this contract, Bond Creek culvert on Highway 540, approximately 12 kilometres west of Little Current, is also being replaced. Traffic will be reduced to one lane with temporary traffic signals.
For this Highway 540 project, the pavement rehabilitation will be complete by the fall of 2016, as will the majority of the structural work. “There is allowance in the contract for some of the structural work to carry-over into 2017, if required,” Mr. Rennie states. “However, at this time the contractor is anticipating to complete the contract in its entirety by the end of 2016.”
The MTO also has plans to resurface Highway 542A and three areas of Highway 540 this summer, including three kilometres east of Meldrum Bay easterly 7.65 kilometres, Evansville from Olde Hwy Road westerly 190 metres and from Blackburn Road easterly 930 metres. The project involves adding gravel and applying double surface treatment to the highway, but the exact timing is not yet known. Traffic will be exposed to gravel driving surfaces and dusty conditions until the surface treatment is completed, but delays are expected to be minimal.
As for the The Blue Jay Creek culverts and the Mindemoya Creek bridge in Providence Bay, these projects are currently being designed with a tentative construction goal of 2017, the MTO states.
