The wait is nearly finished for Barrie drivers wanting to cross Highway 400 from Harvie Road and Big Bay Point Road.
The crossing will be open soon.
“We are anticipating that it will be opening very shortly. We don’t have an exact date for you,” said Andrea Miller, Barrie’s general manager of infrastructure and growth management, during Monday night’s general committee meeting.
“There are a couple of outstanding matters that we need to complete with the contractor before we’ll be able to open it up for traffic, but as soon as I know I will let council know and we’ll certainly do a media release," she added. "But I do expect that it will be very shortly.”
The crossing will connect Harvie Road to Big Bay Point Road over Highway 400. The bridge will have five lanes for vehicle traffic, two separate lanes for bicycles and two sidewalks for pedestrians.
The $76-million crossing can handle 20,000 vehicles a day, according to city staff, and is designed to significantly reduce traffic volumes on Essa Road, Mapleview Drive and other streets in the area.
And, naturally, there has been interest from motorists and city residents.
“I know when I was over on Thrushwood (Drive), looking at the big sound barrier wall, I was being approached by a few residents asking some detailed questions,” said Coun. Gary Harvey. “I did see a lot of hustle and bustle going on.”
“Yes, final touches,” said Mayor Jeff Lehman.
Harvey’s motion that city staff investigate options of providing light through the Harvie Road sound barrier wall, and work with the affected residents at Thrushwood Drive to determine an agreed upon solution, was given initial approval Monday night.
It includes that $60,000 be added to the Harvie Road and Big Bay Point Road crossing project for this work, to be funded from the tax capital reserve; in the event that contingency funds become available, that money would be used in lieu of the additional budget.
City council will consider final approval of this motion at its June 28 meeting.
The crossing has been long in the works. Its environmental assessment dates back to 2013, its design to 2015 and construction began in 2018.
The city’s share is $69.5 million for the bridge and municipal road work; Ontario’s Transportation Ministry is paying $6.5 million for the Highway 400 paving and a new concrete median barrier.
