Can you dig it?
There sure is a lot of digging, tearing up of roads, paving new ones, and various touch-ups to infrastructure in the City of Barrie.
Something Mayor Alex Nuttall highlighted at a news conference on Tuesday, where he gathered the media to Harvie Road near Highway 400, where work will begin shortly on the extension of Bryne Drive from Harvie to Caplan Avenue.
Nuttall said the extension will improve traffic flow across the south end of the city.
"I think it will alleviate some of the pressures on Veterans, on Essa, and certainly allow folks to get around more easily."
He says the south portion of the Bryne Drive extension should be completed sometime between late 2024 and mid-2025, with construction to extend the north portion to Essa Road beginning in 2026.
The city is investing $126 million in new roads, improvements, and repairs this year.
"When we (city council) went through our strategic planning, investing in infrastructure and roads was one of the most important if not the most important piece of our mandate this term. To fix the roads and to ensure traffic can get through the city with reduced congestion."
The work in 2023 includes 16 road construction projects and paving 9.2 kilometres of roadways as part of the city's road resurfacing program.
The major road construction projects happening in Barrie this year include:
- Bryne Drive extension from Harvie Road to Caplan Avenue, which will support the new Harvie Road/Big Bay Point Road/Highway 400 crossing and will improve traffic flow across the south end. The south extension will be complete first. South extension project budget - $15.928M, north extension project budget - $14.604M
- Relocation of sanitary sewers at the Cedar Pointe Drive, Edgehill, Dunlop and Hart Drive area, to prepare for the Dunlop bridge replacement project.
- Duckworth Street expansion to reconstruct the road and add a new watermain, sewer replacements, new sidewalks, new pavement, intersection upgrades, and bike lanes.
- Essa Road expansion and overpass, which will allow for easier highway access and safer pedestrian crossings.
- Sunnidale Road sewer and watermain relocation work to get ready for the bridge replacement.
- Road resurfacing projects, to proactively prevent deterioration and costly repairs.
More roadwork information: https://barrie.ca/roadwork
Banner image: Looking south where Bryne Drive will be extended to Harvie Road beginning in 2023.
