A section of Highway 401 near Dorchester, Ont. is closing for construction. Here's when

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has begun work to demolish the Dorchester Road Bridge over Highway 401.

“It's going to have an impact on our residents, and it's going to have an impact on the businesses that are along the 401 and any of the others that come normally up Dorchester Road, but we are working on mitigating that problem," said Thames Centre Mayor Sharron McMillan.

The MTO said the project includes replacing the Dorchester Road Bridge with a new four lane bridge and reconfiguring the interchange ramps.

“This is a badly overdue project, and we're very grateful the province of Ontario has jumped in with some infrastructure money to get the job done, and in the end, it will be so much better for this area,” added McMillan.

The MTO said Highway 401 westbound and eastbound lanes will be closed for bridge demolition of the Dorchester Road underpass from April 13 at 6 p.m. until April 14 at 10 a.m.

All westbound and eastbound traffic will be detoured around this closure.

Vehicles will exit and re-enter the highway via the Dorchester Road interchange off-ramps and on-ramps as part of the detour.

A graphic depicts upcoming road closure information for Highway 401 at Dorchester Road in April 2024. (CTV News London)

Thomas McQuinn, who has been driving a truck for 40 years, said he’s travelled along Highway 401 many times and that the work is necessary, but will cause a bit of a delay.

"To get into the fuel bar here [Dorchester Road exit], you have to go about 15 miles out of your way to come into the fuel bar, so that's a bit of an inconvenience, depending on which way you're going on the 401,” said McQuinn.

According to the ministry, Dorchester Road will remain closed to traffic at Highway 401 until October, with local road detours in place to manage traffic.

Construction is expected to be completed by June 2025.

For project details you can visit the following website. Travellers can visit the Ontario 511 website for project updates.  

Construction begun on the Dorchester Road Bridge in Dorchester, Ont. in April 2024. (Reta Ismail/CTV News London)