First phase wraps up for major road reconstruction project on Bleams Road
A road extension meant to ease congestion in a busy part of Kitchener is one step closer to being complete.
People and vehicles will soon be able to take Bleams Road from Manitou Drive to Wilson Avenue.
'It's an important connector in our road network,' said Marcos Kroker, head of transportation expansion at the Region of Waterloo's design and construction office.
Work is wrapping up on this first part of a multi-phase project that's been years in the making.
The new section of Bleams Road includes a bridge over Schneider Creek. Construction on that part of the project started in 2020.
Road work began in early 2024 and is nearly complete, with the road expected to open in early to mid-August 2025.
'The project is a great community connector. So it improves the economic environment for us. It improves the road network. It relieves a lot of traffic congestion that we're experiencing on Fairway Road. And it's adding trails to our existing trail network as well,' Kroker said.
The new road is parallel to Fairway Road in Kitchener, and it is hoped it will spread out some of the traffic there.
A manager at a nearby business on Manitou Drive also hopes there will be some relief in that area, too.
'It should relieve a lot of problems here on Manitou in front of our shop. It's just congestion, lots of traffic congestion,' said Ben Hallman, manager at All-Brite Glass & Tint.
Hallman said the problems are made worse by stopped buses slowing traffic, transport trucks having difficulty navigating the road, and backups as vehicles try to turn onto Fairway Road but have to wait because of crossing trains on Courtland Ave.
Hallman has been watching the construction as it has progressed over the past few years.
'It looks good. They've done a really good job with it.'
The total cost of construction to date is $20.6 million, which a Region of Waterloo spokesperson notes includes:
Extending Bleams Road to Wilson Avenue
Building a bridge across Schneider Creek
Installing a roundabout at Goodrich Drive/Bleams Road and Wilson Avenue
Connecting the new road to the Manitou Drive and Bleams Road roundabout
Underground infrastructure upgrades including a new Regional watermain
This is just the first part of the first phase of construction; the next steps include the addition of a roundabout at the Bleams Road extension and Wabanaki Drive, and another roundabout at Wabanaki Drive and Hidden Valley Road plus additional road capacity and trail networks there.
A second phase of the project will extend River Road from King St. East to Hidden Valley Road, including ramps to access Highway 8.
All in all, the project will create 3.4 kilometres of new connections.
The work is expected to be done by 2030, and by then it's expected 17,500 vehicles per day will use the Bleams Road extension.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
8 minutes ago
- CTV News
$500K lotto win a ‘big blessing' for Vancouver woman
Rowena Ibusca is shown in this photo provided by the B.C. Lotto Corporation. A Vancouver woman burst into tears after receiving life-changing news in a drug store earlier this month. Rowena Ibusca won a $500,000 LottoMax jackpot in the July 11 draw, splitting the Maxmillions prize with another lucky ticket holder in Ontario, according to a statement from the B.C. Lottery Corporation. 'When I scanned, I first thought it said $500, but then I scanned it again and just started crying. The first thing I said was, 'Is this true?'' Ibusca told the BCLC. When she went home and told her daughter, the tears of joy kept on flowing. 'We were both jumping and crying,' Ibusca said, recalling the moment she shared the news. Ibusca told the BCLC she still hasn't decided what to do with the windfall but described it as a 'big blessing' and a 'big help.' The odds of winning the Maxmillions prize are 3 in 99,884,400. Ibusca bought the winning ticket at the Point Grey Pharmacy on West 10th Avenue.
CTV News
8 minutes ago
- CTV News
The Canadian passport continues to lose power, global ranking report suggests
The new Canadian passport is unveiled at an event at the Ottawa International Airport in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Canada's passport continues to lose power compared to other countries, according to the latest global passport ranking data. At last tally by the Henley Passport Index (HPI), a Canadian passport scored 184 points, meaning it allows travellers to visit that many global destinations out of a possible 227 without needing a visa. Canada is tied with Estonia and the United Arab Emirates for the eighth-strongest passport in the world, down from seventh, when the index was last updated. Since the beginning of the year, Canada's passport dropped an additional point, now totalling four points lost in the last decade, according to the index. The HPI regularly ranks 199 passports globally, drawing on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Alongside Venezuela, the United States, Vanuatu and the United Kingdom — Canada is among the countries with the fastest falling scores, according to the latest data published on July 22. According to a release from Henley and Partners, who manages the index, this represents a broader trend. 'Traditional mobility champions are losing ground in an increasingly multi-polar world,' the release notes. 'As emerging economies liberalize their visa regimes and invest in diplomatic capital, legacy powers like the U.K. and the U.S. appear to be retreating behind more restrictive entry policies.' The U.K. and U.S. have also dropped a ranking each in the global passport leaderboards since January, to sixth and 10th, respectively. The two countries were once the most powerful passports in the world — with the U.K. taking the top spot in 2015 and the U.S. doing so the year before. Now, the U.S. is on the verge of exiting the top 10 list for the first time in the index's 20-year history. Singapore, Japan and South Korea are currently in the top three spots, with 15 European countries following after. According to the report, the Asia-Pacific region is a leading driver of global travel. Demand for air travel saw 5.8 per cent growth over the first five months of 2025 worldwide, with some regional variations, while Asia-Pacific airlines saw 9.5 per cent growth, they note. 'Your passport is no longer just a travel document — it's a reflection of your country's diplomatic influence and international relationships,' Dr. Juerg Steffen, Chief Executive Officer at Henley & Partners, said in the release. 'In an era of growing inequality and mounting geopolitical uncertainty, strategic mobility and citizenship planning are more critical than ever.'
National Post
38 minutes ago
- National Post
Canada's homebuilding industry feeling strain of U.S. tariffs on costs, supply chain
Article content 'They're taking advantage of the availability of acquiring it and then having it available for the future, which then increases the overhead because you're holding on to that material, rather than acquiring it when you need it,' Shindruk said. Article content With early concerns about the effects of the trade war, Greater Toronto Area-based Altree Developments had forecast a three to five per cent hit to its overall budget, said the company's president and CEO, Zev Mandelbaum. Article content That figure has since decreased due to more Canadian material being available than first anticipated, said Mandelbaum. But he said the roller-coaster of tariff developments — from the latest threat of additional levies to hope that ongoing negotiations will soon lead to a new trade deal — has made it 'impossible' to plan ahead. Article content He added his company has seen a far greater impact on the revenue side of the business over the past six months, as economic uncertainty drove down buyer demand. Article content 'It was more the fear of just … economic instability in Canada that stopped house buying and stopped people from wanting to invest, whether it be locals looking for homes or foreigners looking to invest in the country,' he said. Article content Article content 'That alienation caused us to have less sales, and because of that, that put even more pressure on construction costs.' Article content In its housing forecast for the year, published in February, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. predicted a trade war between Canada and the U.S. — combined with other factors such as reduced immigration targets — would likely slow the economy and limit housing activity. Article content The national housing agency had also said Canada was set for a slowdown in housing starts over the next three years — despite remaining above the 10-year average — due to fewer condominiums being built, as investor interest lags and demand from young families wanes. Article content As of June, year-to-date housing starts totalled 114,411 across regions with a population of 10,000 or greater, up four per cent from the first half of 2024. Article content Article content Despite that boost in new construction, a regional analysis shows provinces with industries more exposed to tariffs are experiencing a slowdown, said CMHC chief economist Mathieu Laberge. He noted Ontario's housing starts have dropped around 26 per cent to date year-over-year, while B.C. has seen an eight per cent decline. Article content Article content In Ontario, five of the 10 most tariff-impacted cities also recorded an increase in mortgage arrears during the spring. Laberge said the trade war, or associated macroeconomic factors, likely prompted layoffs in those regions, which meant people couldn't pay their mortgage. Article content He said he expects that will eventually translate to a lower number of homes being built. 'This is a slow filter through, but it's a real one. We see it happening — although maybe not in the housing starts or resales yet,' Laberge said. Article content Lee said the industry is already noticing those effects. Article content 'The big problem now is we're just not getting the kind of starts we need and there's a lot of concern in the industry now,' Lee said. Article content Before tariffs, he said some regions, such as Atlantic Canada and the Prairies, had started to see housing starts rebound from a national lull that was fuelled by previously high interest rates. Other provinces, such as Ontario and B.C. — where houses remain the most expensive — hadn't yet reached similar levels of new construction.
