Richmond and York re-opens

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: EMILY STEWART
The downtown sewer renewal project continues on York Street in front of the VIA Rail Canada station. Renovations to the train station's parking area and tunnel are also running.

Drivers and cyclists facing downtown construction as part of their daily commute can rejoice as they cruise down Richmond Street.

The City of London announced Richmond Street from King Street to Horton Street re-opened as of Sept. 25. The press release said York Street west of Richmond Street is also open. Anyone driving or cycling through downtown can go north and south on Richmond Street.

“We’re delighted that that bottleneck has been opened back up again,” Jim Yanchula, the city’s manager of downtown projects and business relations, said. “And we can see traffic and transit going the regular routes where people are used to through the Richmond and York intersection.”

The city’s 2019 downtown sewer separation project, as noted on the City of London website, means that parts of Talbot and York Streets are refurbished to improve sewers in the area.

Construction outside of the VIA Rail Canada station, on York Street east of Richmond Street, continues. Yanchula said that along with the city’s construction in the area, the train station also has their own construction project. A travel advisory on the VIA Rail website said the $4.87 million parking area and tunnel renovations will continue until January 2020.

“Side by side construction projects with two different contractors working on them present an extra set of obstacles that nobody wanted,” he said. “However, once they’re all in and all out, it’ll be done for 100 years.”

Yanchula recommends visiting the City of London’s Core Construction page on their website if you plan to travel outside of London via the VIA Rail, to find out where the access points will be for drivers. On Sept. 27, when Yanchula was interviewed, drivers could enter via Clarence Street but not Richmond Street. He said that would switch within a few weeks from the interview.

“As a pedestrian pulling your suitcase behind you, you can get there from Richmond Street or you can get there from Clarence Street. That’s not going to change,” Yanchula said. “If somebody’s coming to pick you up at the train station, that’s where you’re going to have to keep in touch with the website.”

Yanchula said construction for the downtown sewer separation project on Talbot Street between King and York will continue until late 2019. He said the goal is to allow access to the area by the end of October.

“That doesn’t mean the project is done, but it means accessibility is vastly improved,” he said, adding that the orange construction fences will be removed when the pavement is set.

“There will be a lot of traffic cones, but people, I think, get a little disoriented when they see all that orange fence up, and that orange fence will start to be coming down and it’ll be much more open and that’s much more inviting.”

Phase 2 of Dundas Place construction is expected to finish before the end of the year, and Yanchula said the interlocking brick paving is in its final stage. Although people are able to walk on some of the interlocking brick from Dundas Street between Richmond and Wellington Streets, the Dundas Street and Clarence Street intersection will stay closed for the time being. Yanchula would like to see it re-open as soon as possible since it’s a pathway to the VIA station. He is also trying to ensure people can go through visit businesses in the Dundas Place construction area.

“Those businesses would love every customer that they could possibly get to walk through their doors, and we’re there to help them do that,” he said.

Visit london.ca/coreconstruction for the latest updates on the Dundas Place and the York and Talbot sewer renewal projects.