Snowy weather postpones full closure of Victoria Street bridge

The snow on Monday has postponed the closure of the Victoria Street bridge by one day, the Ministry of Transportation says.

The bridge was due to close Monday morning. It was reduced from four lanes to two during the morning commute, but the Ministry of Transportation decided to put off the full closure until Tuesday at 7 a.m.

Environment Canada forecasted 10 to 15 cm of snow Monday afternoon and evening.

Victoria Street between Edna and Bruce streets, which includes the bridge, will be closed until at least the end of November while the bridge is rebuilt. It is all part of the construction of the new Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph.

A spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation confirmed the bridge will be demolished Feb. 10, weather permitting.

'It's going to add time'

Christine Cole supports clients with mental health and addiction issues and told CBC K-W that on a typical day, she crosses over the bridge several times.

Standing beside the bridge, she said having to go through the detours will mean she won't have as much time to get her paperwork completed. Her clients, she stressed, would not be affected.

Cole said driving Victoria Street every day, she gets to know traffic patterns so she can optimize her time. She is now going to have to rework her schedule to deal with the detours.

"It's going to add time — my travel time to see my clients," she said. "It'll affect my collateral time, my documentation time, my travel time … it just keeps domino-effecting down the line."

She sometimes makes hands-free calls in between clients and she said she plans to hold off on that for the first few weeks of detours.

For her clients, she said change can be difficult for people with mental health and addictions. Many of her clients use transit to get around, which is also a challenge.

"It's going to be more difficult to get them out of the bus, get them onto a new bus route," Cole said.

Detours

There will be road access for local businesses on Victoria Street between Edna and Bruce streets and detours in place throughout construction.

For local traffic, detours include:

• Edna Street.
• Frederick Street.
• Bruce Street.
• Wellington Street.
• Shirley Avenue.
• Bingemans Centre Drive.

When the bridge is demolished next month, traffic will be rerouted by the southbound Wellington Street off ramp and the northbound Bruce Street off ramp onto detour routes with OPP assistance.