NEWS RELEASE
CITY OF ORILLIA
*************************
Starting on May 7, 2018, construction will begin on the second phase of three upgrades to Highway 12 to improve operations and capacity issues due to the increase in traffic demands to and from West Orillia.
This phase will provide better access to and from West Orillia during peak times by widening Highway 12, adding turn lanes to and from Monarch Drive, and will include the addition of multi-use trails on both the north and south sides of Highway 12 (see key map).
There will be lane reductions during off hours on Highway 12 from West Ridge Boulevard to Highway 11. In order to avoid delays to transit routes and busy day-time traffic, the majority of work will take place in the evening and overnight hours to avoid peak-hour disruptions.
“The City of Orillia looks forward to the completion of this phase of the improvements. Working in accordance with a Ministry of Transportation-approved traffic control plan, the City, and its contractors will endeavor to minimize the impacts to traffic flow during the construction period,” said Wesley Cyr, Manager of Engineering and Transportation.
Updates will be provided throughout the construction project. Although weather dependent, it is estimated construction will be completed in December 2018.
The tender for phase two was awarded to Dufferin Construction Ltd. for the sum of $3,497,597.30.
In 2016, construction began on the Highway 12 off ramps as the first of three phases of upgrades. The third phase of the improvement project is planned to commence in the spring of 2019, and will include improvements to West Ridge Boulevard.
The full project includes the following work:
- The addition and widening of Highway 11 southbound exit ramps at Coldwater Road (2016)
- The re-alignment of Old Barrie Road and Highway 12 at the Highway 11 overpass (2017)
- The addition of traffic signals at the intersection of Old Barrie Road and University Drive (2017)
- The addition of a second left-turn lane on Hwy 12 at the Monarch Drive intersections (2018)
- Reconfiguration of the West Ridge Boulevard intersection to improve turning movements. This includes staging additional turn lanes to accommodate traffic onto West Ridge Boulevard (2018)
- The addition of a second right-turn lane on Monarch Drive at Highway 12 (2018)
- Active Transportation trails on both sides of Highway 12 between West Ridge Boulevard and Highway 11 (2018)
- The addition of a southbound lane on West Ridge Boulevard from Bass Lake Side Road to Hunter Valley Road (2019)
For more information on the Highway 12 Improvement project and other major projects throughout the City of Orillia, visit orillia.ca/majorprojects.
The City of Orillia is a city of 31,000 people in the heart of Ontario’s Lake Country on the shores of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Visit our website at orillia.ca.
*************************
