4 days ago
First phase wraps up for major road reconstruction project on Bleams Road
A major construction project meant to ease congestion in a busy part of Kitchener is nearing its next phase. CTV's Krista Simpson has details.
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.
