Another downtown detour as Queens Avenue gets ripped up

Construction equipment sits ready for a major project on Queens Avenue in London, Ont. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

Another major detour is about to take shape for those who travel to or through downtown London, Ont.

Queens Avenue between Richmond Street and Wellington Street will be closed this week for several months as crews undertake construction work on the Downtown Loop phase two of the Bus Rapid Transit project.

Michelle Currie, who owns Re Salon & Spa on Queens just west of Clarence Street, said between COVID-19 closures and construction, it’s been too much pain for not enough gain.

“It’s really just circling around, and it’s incredibly frustrating because it’s like ‘come downtown, come downtown,’ but then you can’t get down here,” said Currie. “It almost feels like it’s impossible to manoeuvre down here.”

The closure is expected to begin any day now. Jennie Dann, the city’s Director of Construction and Infrastructure Services, said it’s carry-over work from a project that began one year ago.

“It’s a lot of work, so in this section of Queens from Wellington Street to Richmond we’re going to be doing full surface restoration work to install dedicated bus lanes, a new enhanced rapid transit stop and traffic signals, and we also have underground work to do as well, so replacing our aging infrastructure,” said Dann.

The area under construction includes mainly office towers and a few businesses. The portion of Queens from Richmond to Clarence will have two way traffic to allow for access to points along Queens. The Wellington and Clarence intersection will be fully closed. Westbound motorists will be detoured to Dufferin Avenue, one block north, and to York Street, three blocks south.

A map of the proposed detours for the Queens Avenue construction in downtown London, Ont. (Source: City of London)

The city said pedestrians will have access, but that still doesn’t sit well with pedestrian and cyclist Frank Schmidt.

“Well I feel like they just tore up the road and now they’re doing it again,” said Schmidt. “I understand transit projects are important, but a lot of inconvenience for a lot of people.”

Toronto transplant Bogdan Baginski, who relocated from The Big Smoke three years ago, chuckles to himself as people complain about downtown London traffic. A bus rider, himself, he said London traffic is a breeze.

“It’s very easy. It’s a world of difference between London and Toronto- Toronto is a nightmare,” he said with a grin.

The city said construction will be finished by the end of the summer.

Business owner Michelle Currie said her lease will be up soon and she plans to weigh her options. She said with regret that she probably won’t be around to see the end.

“It feels like barrier after barrier after barrier, and it makes it hard to want to stay the course down here. I love downtown. I wish it were more vibrant. But it’s not,” said Currie.