Motorists heading to Burlington via Waterdown Road this month will need to detour around emergency road work if they plan to use the North Service Road.
Construction to replace two collapsed corrugated steel pipe culverts at the North Service Road and King Road is expected to continue throughout February.
While the area had been slated for upgrades, the collapse forced the work to begin ahead of schedule, in mid-January.
The project will restabilize the embankment slopes and restore the stormwater drainage network to connect with the Ministry of Transportation’s (MoT) existing box culvert adjacent to Highway 403.
The work will continue until the spring with road closures and detours in place. Traffic is being redirected to Plains Road.
It means the North Service Road is closed east of King Road from Jan. 15 to March, and King Road will be closed (weekends only) March 1-25. North Service Road west of Kerns Road is being detoured at Skyview Drive, so drivers cannot use the North Service Road to get to King Road right now.
According to City of Burlington staff who presented to council's committee of the whole in January, the culvert is vital to manage stormwater as part of the Indian Creek tributary; the collapse forced the city to hire a contractor quickly. Late last year, staff provided a design to remove the compromised corrugated steel pipes and replace them with a reinforced concrete pipe culvert.
An emergency procurement process was carried out to allow the work to begin before any further washout occurs, which would directly impact the North Service Road and - at worst - Highway 403. MoT is included as a joint partner due to the location of the culvert connection.
Proposed works on North Service Road and King Road at the Indian Creek tributary include:
- North Service Road Culvert Crossing Installation at Indian Creek.
- Storm Culvert installation within MoT Right of Way.
- King Road Culvert Crossing at North Service Road.
- Asphalt Road Restoration
- Steel Beam Guide Rail Installation
- Erosion and Site Restoration
Funding for the project was approved last year and will cost approximately $1.5 million, of which $1.38 million was approved in last year's budget; funding of $441,600 will be used to cover the local road resurfacing costs.
The emergency site stabilization required to prevent further damages to the city roadway resulted in an unplanned cost of approximately $377,700, and will be funded from the Infrastructure Renewal Reserve Fund.
Additional delay costs were accrued during the legal cost sharing agreements with the MoT. The city entered into a cost-sharing agreement with the MoT and secured funding to complete the construction in the amount of $657,353.
