BRT branches out: $21M project extends east link from core
As construction of London’s second rapid transit corridor approaches, the downtown ward councillor is hoping this year’s big dig on King Street won’t be quite as painful as the last.
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As construction of London’s second rapid transit corridor approaches, the downtown ward councillor is hoping this year’s big dig on King Street won’t be quite as painful as the last.
The east leg of bus rapid transit, dubbed the East London Link, is expected to be built during three years, starting in 2022. Four phases of construction will shut down portions of King Street between Wellington and Lyle streets this year, digging up one or two blocks at a time.
A construction contract, just shy of $21 million, with Bre-Ex Construction, will be up for debate at Tuesday’s civic works committee.
“I think, from a merchant perspective, a lot of the pain on King Street is done,” Ward 13 Coun. John Fyfe-Millar said.
“You look at where they’re going to tackle King Street now, a lot of it is hotels, the convention centre, converted office space. In some ways, not as bad. I’m a little concerned about the hotel.”
After two years battered and nearly shuttered amid pandemic slowdowns and public health measures, RBC Place and DoubleTree need all the support they can get to attract events and customers, Fyfe-Millar said.
Creating a plan to soften the blow of the construction will be key, but it has to be different than the incentives used to attract customers downtown when the first stage of rapid transit – the King Street portion of the downtown loop – was built last year, he said.
“They had construction dollars they put into the downtown (to be spent at local businesses), but you’re not looking at direct, or as much, retail foot traffic (further east). I think the mitigation needs to change a little bit. The block is different,” Fyfe-Millar said.
The East London Link will run between the downtown and Fanshawe College, on a route that travels east on King Street, north on Ontario Street to Dundas Street, north on Highbury Avenue and east on Oxford Street.
The transit terminal will be at Fanshawe College.
The phased work on King Street also will include replacement of underground assets between Wellington and Lyle, particularly aging sewers. Half a kilometre of combined stormwater and sanitary sewers – an environmental issue because they are more likely to be overwhelmed during big storms, leading to raw and partially treated sewage polluting the Thames River – will be separated.
“We let the infrastructure go, in my opinion, way too long. These are changes that have to be made and I think need to be made in our downtown,” Fyfe-Millar said.
Creation of the rapid transit corridors also opens up a conversation about the future, and vision, for London’s public transit, Fyfe-Millar said. Work will continue on the downtown loop this summer, tackling Ridout Street and Queens Avenue.
Fyfe-Millar did not support the controversial bus rapid transit network but wasn’t part of that pivotal vote in 2019 when the plan was carved up by city council.
“Every world-class city has world-class transit. We have an opportunity in London, looking at our transit model now, and looking at where its sitting post-COVID, to create something that speaks to our community,” he said.
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