Hamilton stretch of Highway 403 to get $23 million facelift

CBC News

Posted: Mar 15, 2013 4:11 PM ET

Last Updated: Mar 15, 2013 4:14 PM ET

 

Potholes on the 403 are evident from a highway overpass. (Julia Chapman/CBC)

Looking down from an overpass on Longwood Road, the potholes and cracks along Highway 403 are evident, even from 100 feet above.

Just steps away, an announcement with the intention to make some improvements for drivers is made.

"It's not a particularly sexy announcement," Ted McMeekin, MPP for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale, said jokingly at McMaster's Innovation Park on Friday afternoon.

But if you're a motorist who regularly drives this busy corridor between Toronto and Hamilton, you may disagree with McMeekin.

A rehabilitation project worth $23.8 million, jointly funded by the Ontario and federal governments, will fill up those potholes and mend the cracks.

The 5 km stretch between Highway 6 and Aberdeen Avenue will get $15.6 million of surface work. Another $8.2 million will be put towards fixing up overpasses at the Desjardins Canal Bridge and Plains Road. About 50 per cent of the funding comes from the province and about 50 per cent from the federal government.

MP David Sweet noted that with new businesses opening and places like the Ancaster Business Park and McMaster's Innovation Park expanding, traffic on the 403 has increased, making the road more susceptible to damage.

Looking down from the same overpass at 2 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, pedestrians can see Sweet is right. Traffic is already getting busy.

Transport Canada confirmed the annual daily traffic along the 403 between Aberdeen Avenue and Mohawk Road is 93,900 vehicles. Between Mohawk Road to Highway 6, the average number is 77,200 vehicles.

Drivers were disrupted along this stretch of Highway 403 this past summer with the rehabilitation work on the York Road exit ramp.

"I apologize in advance for the construction disruption," McMeekin said about the upcoming work. "Maintenance isn't glamorous, but we'd rather make the investment now."

An environmental assessment needs to be done before work can start in the spring, McMeekin said. Rehabilitation should finish sometime between 2016 and 2018.

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