Staff Report #11
April 27, 2026
To All Commissioners
Re: 2026 Road Construction and Special Events Update
Recommendation
The report be RECEIVED for information.
Background
Many construction projects which started in 2025 have carried over into 2026, with work continuing through the winter months. Details of the major construction projects set to commence in 2026 should be available from the City of London in the coming weeks and details will be provided to the Commission at that time.
London Transit Administration will continue to work closely with civic Administration as well as the specific contractors on each major construction project to ensure regular communication regarding the status of the projects in an effort to mitigate the impact of construction on service and ridership by allowing buses to operate in work zones where it is deemed safe to do so.
Clark’s Bridge
Work continues on the construction on Clark’s Bridge. The northbound stop at Wellington and Grand has been reopened with the traffic flip to work on the south side. The stop at Wellington and Grand southbound is closed during this phase of work and the northbound stop at Wellington and McClary also remains closed.
Wellington Gateway Phase II A
Work on Wellington between Waterman and Baseline began on Tuesday April 21 with localized road widening around the Commissioners Intersection resulting in the closure of two stops. Full construction and lane shifts are anticipated to commence in the next two to three weeks. The construction includes the full reconstruction of the Wellington and Commissioners intersection and as such impacts will also be seen for east/west buses and traffic along Commissioners Road. London Transit is working with the City of London and the contractor to try to ensure that access into Victoria Hospital can be maintained for Route 24 throughout the construction period. Some concerns have been raised with regards to cut through traffic through the hospital property and there is the potential that barricades could be put up to prevent traffic traveling through the hospital. If barricades are put in place, there is the potential that all bus routes serving the hospital will have to be removed from the campus. Administration will continue to work with all parties involved to identify the best solution possible to ensure continued access to Victoria Hospital throughout the construction work.
As work will be continuing on Wellington Gateway Phases III and IV, temporary stops will be installed on Wellington at Commissioners to reduce the travel distance required to access a bus stop through the three construction zones. Temporary stops will also be installed on Commissioners west of Wellington for east/west buses.
Wellington Gateway Phase III
Work is expected to resume on Wellington Gateway Phase III in the coming weeks. Full impacts of the work during this construction season are not yet known, but it is anticipated that some stop closures will be required as finishing work progresses.
Wellington Gateway Phase IV
With work concluding near the White Oaks Mall entrance, all routes (with the exception of Route 30) have been able to resume regular routing into White Oaks Mall.
Since the construction of the centre running lanes, Route 30 travelling northbound on Wellington is not able to make the left-hand turn into the Mall via the centre entrance. As such the detour access via the Bradley entrance will remain as the permanent routing for Route 30 until such time as the work is completed for the station on Wellington Road and all local routes move to service the Rapid Transit Station adjacent to White Oaks Mall.
Work is anticipated to resume in the coming weeks to finish work on the centre running lanes.
East London Link Phase III AE
Work commenced on Monday March 16 between McCormick and Highbury for the final phase of Rapid Transit work on Dundas. This phase requires a full closure of Dundas until mid-late fall. During this time Routes 2 and 94 will be detoured to Florence/York between Highbury and Egerton. Route 2 will serve all the regular Route 7 stops along the detour routing and for Route 94, temporary express stops are located on York matching regular stop locations on Dundas.
East London Link Phase III B
Work continues on the Highbury overpass, with a single lane in each direction being maintained across the bridge. Work has resulted in some slowdowns for Routes 10 and 95 in this area, but the impacts have been relatively minimal.
East London Link Phase III C
Work is nearing completion on Phase III C along Highbury between the bridge and Oxford Street. Shelter installations continue at the stations, with all shelters in this area anticipated to be installed by mid-April.
Paving work will be happening along Highbury, including the Highbury and Oxford intersection in early summer. Work will happen overnight, however due to the magnitude of work required, lane and full road closures will be required for approximately 12-13 hours each night for four nights. London Transit Planning staff are working with the City of London and the Contractor to try to minimize the impacts of the work however significant detours are anticipated to be required during this work.
East London Link Phase IV
Starting Monday May 4, Fanshawe College Blvd north of Oxford will be closed for approximately four weeks. During this time concrete will be poured at the bus terminal on Fanshawe College property requiring buses to be out of the terminal for approximately four to five weeks. As both the terminal and Fanshawe College Blvd will be closed, the required detour would be significant. In order to minimize the expected schedule adherence impacts on the rest of the route, Routes 4, 20 and 91 will terminate at Oxford and Mornington. To provide connections between Oxford and Mornington to Fanshawe College, Construction Connector buses will be implemented throughout the closure. The connector buses will operate on a 6 minute peak period headway and 10 minutes in the off peaks. These buses will just operate between Oxford and Mornington and Fanshawe College minimizing impacts to the rest of the affected routes. As Route 17 continues further east to Argyle Mall, the route will not terminate at Mornington, however, to try to minimize the impacts, the route will not go into the Fanshawe College campus and instead stay on Cheapside and Third Street. Passengers needing to access Fanshawe College will be able to transfer to the Construction Connector either at Oxford and Mornington or on Cheapside at Fanshawe College Blvd.
Bradley Ave
Construction on the Bradley Ave extension between Wharncliffe and White Oak Road has commenced. As part of this construction, Bradley between White Oak Road and Jalna Blvd (West Leg) will also be getting upgraded to create a four-lane complete street with sidewalks, in boulevard bike lanes, lighting, and landscaping to support all modes of transportation and development in the area. While the construction of the extension will not have impacts on transit, the work between White Oak Road and Jalna will impact the Route 28 with stop closures. It is expected that one lane of traffic will be maintained through the majority of the project; however, short-term lane closures may be necessary to complete the work in the constrained sections of the roadway. During this time, detours may need to be put in place. The entirety of the project is scheduled to be completed in fall 2026 with some restoration work taking place in spring 2027.
York Street
Work commenced on Monday March 16 to continue the York Street Infrastructure Renewal Project. Work for the 2026 construction season will be between Wellington and Colborne Street. The road will be fully closed for the duration of the project, including a full closure of the York and Colborne intersection starting in mid-June through the fall of 2026. The initial detour will have Route 7 operating along Colborne to King to use the contra-flow lanes in the westbound direction and vice versa for eastbound travel. Once the construction progresses to include the closure of the Colborne intersection, the detour will need to be modified.
Wonderland and Springbank Intersection
Work to rebuild the traffic signals at the Wonderland and Springbank intersection commenced on Monday March 9. The work is scheduled to continue until the beginning of July and requires some bus stop closures while the work is taking place impacting Routes 5 and 10. It is also anticipated that there will be schedule delays at the intersection both east/west and north/south as the work progresses.
Sunningdale and Richmond Intersection
Intersection rebuild work started on Monday March 2. Work is scheduled to continue until August 2026 and is anticipated to have impacts to schedule adherence on Route 34 as a result of delays travelling through
the intersection.
Highbury Ave
Road rehabilitation on Highbury Ave between the Thames River and 401 is set to commence on Monday April 27. Work is scheduled to last until fall 2027 with a single lane in each direction on Highbury throughout the duration of the construction work. Work will also be required on Bradley and Commissioners at the exits. This will have significant impacts on schedule adherence for routes navigating through the construction.
Communications
The underlying goals with respect to communication regarding detours are to provide passengers and Operators with as much information as far in advance as possible, noting that dates and impacts can change without notice. Accomplishing both of these goals requires a balanced approach. A communication strategy has been developed which includes posting information on internal boards, the website, real-time alerts and social media as well as through stop level notifications which provides passengers with information regarding which stops are closed and direct them to the closest stop location. On road Inspectors are completing daily audits of all stop closures and temporary stop locations to ensure detailed information is available at the stop level to assist passengers in navigating the detours.
Recommended by:
Katie Burns, Director of Planning
David Butler, Director of Operations – Conventional
Concurred in by:
Kelly S. Paleczny, General Manager