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Oakville council moves forward plans for Burloak and Kerr rail underpasses NEWS Graham Paine/Metroland Burloak Drive rail crossing. DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com The Town o f Oakville has taken another step to­ ward having rail under­ passes at Burloak Drive and Kerr Street. Oakville council voted April 19 to give the town CAO and solicitor authori­ ty to execute agreements with public transit author­ ity Metrolinx on the funda­ mentals o f the underpass­ es. The projects have been greatly anticipated with previous transportation master planning and envi­ ronmental assessment studies identifying the need for the construction o f rail/road grade separa­ tion along the Lakeshore West Rail Corridor at both Burloak Drive and Kerr Street. A t Burloak Drive, town staff note both road and rail traffic is on the in­ crease, necessitating an underpass to replace the existing level crossing. On April 19, town direc­ tor o f roads and works op­ erations Dan Cozzi said the current plan would see an underpass constructed to accommodate a future wid­ ening o f Burloak Drive to six lanes. The Town o f Oakville, the City o f Burlington and Metrolinx w ill share the estimated project cost of around $54 million. Cozzi said the Oakville share o f this project would be $13.5 million and fund­ ing for it would be primari­ ly development charge- based. The timeline for this project would see the con­ tract for the underpass' construction awarded in early 2019. Construction is tenta­ tively scheduled to begin in the spring o f 2019 and take 24 months to complete. Cozzi said the Kerr Street project is considera­ bly more complicated and expensive. He said this underpass would have significant im­ pacts on surrounding properties meaning the town and Metrolinx must acquire or partially ac­ quire those properties. Both organizations are currently engaged in that acquisition/expropriation process. Once again an increase in rail and road traffic in this area has led town staff to decide a four-lane un­ derpass is necessary to re­ place the existing level crossing. The Town o f Oakville and Metrolinx w ill share the estimated project cost o f around $69.8 million. Cozzi said the Oakville share o f this project would be $34.9 million and fund­ ing for it would be primari­ ly development charge based. The current timeline for the Kerr Street under­ pass would see the con­ tract awarded in early 2019. Advance work is tenta- tively scheduled to begin in the spring o f 2019 and last eight to 12 months. "That work is related to utility relocations along the railway corridor; the lowering o f the Trans­ Northern pipeline, which runs parallel to the tracks, just north o f the tracks," said Cozzi. "There would also be the prebuilding o f the storm sewer outlet to Six­ teen Mile Creek to drain the lowest point in the un­ derpass." The main construction for the project would tenta­ tively begin in spring of 2020 and last for around 30 months. Following Cozzi's pre­ sentation Oakville mayor Burton praised Cozzi's staff for their work, noting they had done "an out­ standing job o f bargaining in the town's interests." Ward 2 town and region­ al councillor Cathy Dud- deck said the Kerr Street project has been a long time coming. "The fact you got this ex­ pedited earlier is very grat­ ifying to people, not only in the Kerr area, but I dare say people in the northern quadrant o f the town who use that area to come down to access the GO Train sta­ tion," she said. Ward 2's councillor, Ray Chisholm, said he was ex­ cited to see this project moving forward. "What really impresses me is that you have indicat­ ed that when construction does being we w ill still have traffic flow going over those tracks," he said. "I am looking forward to this." Dundas Q E W Fine Furn i sh i ngs & Accessor i es 20% O F F ( r e g u la r p r ic e d i t e m s ) T h is w e e k e n d o n ly F r id a y t o M o n d a y M I S S I S S A U G A H O M E A N D D E S I G N C E N T R E 2 5 7 5 D u n d a s S t r e e t W . , M i s s i s s a u g a (b e t w e e n W i n s t o n C h u r c h i l l & E r in M i l l s P k w y ) T e l : 9 0 5 - 8 2 0 - 4 1 1 1 F a x : 9 0 5 - 8 2 0 - 4 4 4 5 Please see store for details O) | O akvilleB eaver | Thursday, M ay 3,2018 insidehalton.com mailto:dlea@metroland.com