Newmarket's Davis Drive project expected to continue into 2016

Yorkregion.com
April 16, 2015
By Chris Simon

Davis Drive construction will be done in December - kind of.

While the rapidway between Yonge Street and Roxborough Road and the Hwy. 404 park and ride portions of the $261-million project are expected to be complete by the end of the year, ‘finishing touches’ will continue to be added to Davis until mid-2016, York Region Rapid Transit Corporation president Mary-Frances Turner said.

“Most of our rapidway programs take four years (to build),” she said, in a presentation to Newmarket councillors Monday afternoon. “We’ve learned a lot...which can be carried forward to other projects.”

However, the latest timeline comes as bad news for local business owners, many of whom are “hanging on by their fingernails” after years of construction on the road has significantly eroded their customer bases.

“The merchants were 100 per cent behind this project,” recent Ward 5 council candidate John Heckbert said, speaking on behalf of several Davis businesses. “There will still be (construction) trucks present and reasons why customers will not come. We’ll all benefit from the upgraded infrastructure; the full cost of this complimentary upgrade has been borne by the people least able to afford it: the small businesses and residents along Davis.”

He estimates about 145 people have lost their jobs as a result of the construction and suggests a better marketing approach by Viva - highlighting the fact businesses are open during construction, instead of focusing on road closures and other deterrents to the area, for example - would be helpful in the months to come.

Turner also mentioned the anticipated December 2018 completion date for the $430-million Yonge Street reconstruction - which includes Mulock Drive to Davis in Newmarket, and Levendale to 19th avenues and Hwy. 7 to Major Mackenzie Drive in Richmond Hill - is also subject to change.

Although the Yonge project is still largely in the design stages, it is expected to include a 2.4-kilometre rapidway between Mulock and Davis. Centre-lane Viva stations will be located at Davis, Eagle Street and Mulock.

“While it would be nice to have an orderly progression down the corridor, it doesn’t work that way,” she said. “There can still be surprises and bad weather. You can’t anticipate everything you might encounter. I don’t want to give you any false assurance.”

Councillor Tom Vegh expressed disappointment with the floating targets.

“One of the greatest issues we’re hearing on Davis is that the project’s a year behind schedule; the hardships have lasted a year longer than anticipated,” he said. “When I look at Yonge...that’s a huge concern. It’s not reassuring to see ‘subject to change.’”

In other Davis news, the road is expected to be closed at the GO train tracks during the May long weekend (May 15 to 19). Crews will replace the current rail tracks and crossing signals at that time.