Opening of new connecting road in Bradford to be delayed: council

By Brea Bartholet Bradford West Gwillimbury Topic

If you’ve been anticipating the use of Bradford West Gwillimbury’s newest road, Marshview Boulevard, you’ll have to wait a little longer than expected.

The roadway, which will connect Holland Street and Simcoe Road, will no longer be available for drivers to try out in mid March as originally scheduled.

Manager of capital projects, Khurram Tunio, spoke to council Feb. 21 to give an update on key town projects happening throughout BWG this year. As per Tunio’s presentation, a substantial portion of work on Marshview Boulevard — formerly known as the Southeast Arterial Road — is to be completed by mid March to allow for use of the roadway.

However, Tunio explained that immediate lane closures would be necessary in order for construction crews to finish up final elements such as landscaping, sidewalks and a multi-use path.

Coun. Peter Ferragine immediately questioned Tunio on the process of completion, asking whether it would be worth it to open the roadway only to cause traffic and possible safety concerns for drivers and pedestrians.

Tunio openly agreed with Ferragine, saying it would make sense to keep the roadway closed until all work has been completed.

“You are right. Ideally, we should finish everything and clean up all of the mess, as it is the most safe and economical way,” he added.

Coun. Gary Baynes chimed in, asking what the extended timeline would be if Marshview remained closed.

“If we wait to get everything done, which includes the top layer of asphalt, we are probably looking at late June to early July,” explained Arup Mukherjee, director of development and engineering services.

“But we don’t want to guess how long it would fully take, because it’s hard to say.”

Cost savings to the town would also be possible if the opening was delayed, according to Mukherjee, as construction crews would not need to hire a flag-person to deal with traffic flow and crews wouldn’t have to delay work due to vehicles travelling among their work space.

“In the construction world, time is money.”

Ferragine put forth a motion to delay the opening of Marshview Boulevard, which was unanimously agreed upon by the rest of council.