Work on the Highway 40 overpass is on schedule, and provincial Ministry of Transportation officials say the major link between Chatham and Blenheim will reopen this month on schedule.
According to ministry spokesperson Liane Fisher Bloxam, the overpass and interchange ramps will reopen in mid-to-late November.
This despite a number of challenges and delays during construction, which began back in April.
Fisher Bloxam said unanticipated utility relocations and the unusually wet spring weather slowed the project initially.
The warm, mostly sunny fall weather has proven a boon, however, helping to erase the earlier delays.
The most challenging and time-consuming aspect of the construction has been raising the elevation of Hwy. 40 by approximately three metres, to improve visibility for traffic, while removing and replacing three new bridges over Hwy. 401, Lucas Drain and McGregor Creek, Fisher Bloxam said. All this work took place within a distance of a about one kilometre, causing tight working spaces and limited access to co-ordinate operations.
The eastbound lanes of the 401 reopened in mid-October. But there will be ongoing lane closures on the highway until later this month.
Construction planned for next year includes surface asphalt paving on Hwy. 40 and the interchange ramps, as well as landscaping and cleanup.
That work is scheduled to begin in May and be complete by late June 2018. Drivers are advised to slow down and pay attention in construction zones.
