February 26, 2009

This spring, work will begin on the final phase of the massive expansion of Highway 410 north into the Brampton-Caledon area. Winter months have been spent planning and preparing for the final push.

Development

Highway 410 expansion project ready to “spring” into action

DAN O’REILLY

correspondent

BRAMPTON

It may be the dead of winter, but planning and some preparation work for the final push to complete the last stretch of the $160-million Highway 410 extension project is currently under way.

“Right now we’re in winter shut down mode, but some excavation work is under way and we will be ramping up about the beginning of May,” says Brian Morris, project manager for Woodbridge-based B. Gottardo Construction Limited.

Designed to relieve traffic congestion on local roads, the extension will connect Highway 410 with Hurontario Street (Highway 10) just north of the Brampton/Caledon border.

Approximately 60,000 drivers a day are expected to use the Highway 410 extension once that link is completed next fall, according to Ontario Ministry of Transportation estimates.

The project has been conducted in three stages since 2003 as the four lane divided highway was pushed north from Bovaird Drive in Brampton towards Caledon. Last year, it was linked with Mayfield Road, which is the boundary line of the two municipalities.

Now the highway is being angled westerly towards Highway 10 and it will include three new bridges and a new interchange. Work on this final $42-million, four-kilometre stretch by Gottardo has been under way since September 2007. It was the contractor for the original first phase, while Dufferin Construction handled the middle portion.

The excavation work now under way has to be done carefully as not all the utility lines along the right-of-way have been rerouted.

An estimated 660,000 cubic metres of earth has to be excavated, with about half that volume reused on the job site. The excavation is about 75 per cent complete and there shouldn’t be any problem in meeting a stipulated Oct. 12 completion date, Gottardo’s Morris says.

Considerable pre-road building work has also been completed. That list includes the construction of two sediment ponds which will collect storm water from the highway right-of-way before slowly releasing it into the Etobicoke Creek.

Other infrastructure already in place includes a 600-millimetre storm drain and similar sized sewer pipe to serve a massive new subdivision being built in the area, plus two 600-metre-long sections of concreted noise retention walls near the adjacent existing Valleywood subdivision, says Morris.

Minimizing construction impact on that subdivision will a most critical and sensitive aspect of the project. When a new interchange is built at Valleywood Boulevard, a temporary road reroute will have to be built for the residents, he says.

When the project hits its peak this summer, about 30 pieces of heavy equipment and 70 to 80 workers, including the equipment operators, carpenters, and form workers will be on site, says Morris.

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