Major Mackenzie in the midst of transformation

DailyCommercialNews.com
Feb. 24, 2016
Don Wall

Stretching across the entire southern flank of York Region, Major Mackenzie Drive is an important east-west corridor and one that is in the midst of a major transformation.

In what might be considered an unprecedented undertaking, a predominately two-lane portion of the highway in the city of Vaughan, Ont. will be expanded to six lanes over the next five to six years.

Divided into four separate segments, the approximately $120-million, 11-kilometre expansion from Highway 400 right over to Highway 50 on the border with Peel Region will also include infrastructure improvements including sidewalks, a multi-use plan, storm sewers, street lighting and landscaped medians.

There are two different consulting firms doing the design work, HDR Corporation and AECOM Canada Ltd.

Transportation and congestion is a major concern for York residents, as the region is growing rapidly, says project manager Shawn Ellsworth, in explaining the need for the project which received Ministry of Environment approval a few years ago.

By 2041 the area's population is expected to reach 1.8 million and the region must also prepare to meet traffic demands generated by the planned extension of Highway 427, he says.

As just one example of the projected traffic escalation, Ellsworth refers to the section of Major Mackenzie Drive between Pine Valley Drive and Weston Road.

Currently, approximately 22,000 vehicles travel that route daily. But by 2031, that figure will have reached 34,000.

Those demands are the reason the region decided to build the four new lanes simultaneously rather than opting for the traditional two-lanes-at-a-time highway widening, he says.

"We didn't want to keep coming back (to build more lanes)."

Three of the four phases are in various stages of design, while the fourth has been under construction since last July.

This is a 3.3-kilometre piece from Highway 400 west to Pine Valley Drive.

The contractor is Graham Bros. Construction Limited and HDR Corporation is the design consultant.

The $28 million project required almost three-and-a-half-years for the design, property acquisition and utility relocation.

While the actual construction won't take that long, it won't be completed until the end of 2017 and there are more than a few challenges, Ellsworth says.

As he describes it, this phase might almost be considered two projects in one.

A short stub from Highway 400 to Weston Road is already four lanes, so the work there is mainly the addition of the two lanes. From Weston Road west to Pine Valley Drive, "it's a complete reconstruction of an older road."

The contractor has to maintain the existing number of traffic lanes and left turn lanes open during construction, as well as maintaining access to side roads and driveways.

To do that, Graham built the two lanes south of the existing road in 2015 and will build the other two on the north side this year.

One of most challenging tasks was the removal of an old three metre diameter corrugated steel pipe and replacing it with twin three metre high, 3.6-metre-wide concrete box culverts — a procedure which took from July to December last year.

"This (the installation) was done in three stages and the contractor had to shift traffic three times," Ellsworth states.

Looking ahead to future phases, Ellsworth says there will be even more challenges.

The second section, from Pine Valley Drive to Highway 27, will include building two bridges and three wildlife crossing culverts.

Creating a new interchange will also require staging traffic.

Special precautions will also have to be taken to lessen the impact on the Kortright Centre, an educational and conservation area owned by the Toronto Region Conservation Authority.

Although the widening will require some grading on the property, the region will keep the widened portion closed to the existing roadway, using steep slopes for the cuts and fills and keeping the cross-section as narrow as possible, he says.

The third phase, from Highway 27 east to a CPR railroad track, could possibly be the most daunting.

A new alignment, which will eliminate a jog that requires drivers to make two quick successive turns on and off Highway 27, necessitates the erection of a 150-metre-long bridge over the Humber River.

A second bridge will also be required over the CPR track which is currently an at-grade crossing. Considerable preloading of the fill embankments will be needed before the bridge can be built and that won't be an overnight process, says Ellsworth.

"It could take up to 12 months for the soil to settle."

Design for this phase will be finished shortly and construction will probably start in August, he says.

As for the last section, from the CPR tracks to Highway 50, the construction timetable is the hands of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) because it involves building an interchange with the Highway 427 extension.

While the region will be a partner, oversight will rest with the MTO, says Ellsworth.