Highway 10 widening project to be in 2 stages

Ontario's Ministry of Transportation has issued the first of two tender calls for the widening of Highway 10 between Caledon Village and Orangeville.

Elizabeth (Betsy) Hall, Liberal candidate for Dufferin-Caledon in the Oct. 10 provincial election, said she has been advised that the widening will be in two phases, with the objective of having four lanes of travel available by late 2008.

The initial tender call, issued May 16, is for the reconstruction and widening of 7.5 kilometres of the roadway between Orangeville and a point north of Caledon Village. The second phase, with a tender call expected later this year, will involve widening the road through the village, a distance of roughly two kilometres.

Hall said in an interview that it was not clear whether any temporary solution will be provided for the major bottleneck in the village, where only one lane is provided for through traffic at the intersection with Peel Region 24 (Charleston Sideroad).

"All design and environmental approvals have been completed for Phase 1," she said. "Construction is set to begin in this fall."

Hall said she has learned that the tendering process will take four to six weeks. "It is expected that the contract will be awarded in June."

As for the second phase, she said the Ministry is currently completing design work and property acquisitions in the village.

"Pending completion of all preparations, the second phase of the project could be tendered as early as this fall. Construction could start as early as the spring of 2008."

She said four lanes along the total 9.5-kilometre stretch "could be open to traffic in late 2008."

In a news release May 15, the government provided details of a record $1.7 billion program of road improvements, involving both roads and bridges.

In it, Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield said the improvements "will address growing congestion, make our roads safer and keep our economy strong."

Predicting that the next few months will see work being done on "almost every major highway across Ontario," the minister promised that in order to minimize disruption:

"Much of the work will be done at night and lanes on major highways will be kept open during rush hour."