Staff Report #11
August 27, 2025
To All Commissioners
Re: 2025 Road Construction and Special Events Update
Recommendation
The report be RECEIVED for information.
Background
As has been the case over the past number of years, the City of London has and will be undertaking a large number of construction projects in 2025, a number of which are carried over from the 2024 construction period and will continue to have impacts to transit routes and schedule adherence.
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.
Rapid Transit Station Installation
All shelters in the downtown loop have now been installed. Work will begin in the coming weeks to have the front glass installed in the center sections at all locations.
Clark’s Bridge
Work continues on the construction on Clark’s Bridge. All northbound stops have 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.
Wellington Gateway Phase III
Work on Wellington Gateway Phase III continues between Southdale and Waterman. Bus stops in the construction zone will remain closed until the work has been completed as there is only a single travel lane in each direction. Passengers are being directed to the closest open stops, noting that there are some additional impacts to stop closures as a result of the adjacent Wellington Gateway Phase IV project.
Wellington Gateway Phase IV
Construction resumed on the Wellington Gateway project on April 28, with traffic operating on the east side of the road. With the traffic flip, the northernmost entrance on Wellington into White Oaks Mall has been closed. This entrance is used by the majority of bus routes in order to be able to serve the stops on White Oaks Mall property. During the time of the entrance closure, buses will be detoured to enter the White Oaks Mall property from the Bradley entrance and be able to continue to serve all of the regular stops at the mall.
While work is taking place on the west side of Wellington, Holiday Ave and Greenfield Drive are also closed. As a result, the limited-service extension on Route 13 to Wellington and Exeter has been suspended during the construction due to no turnaround options and the closure of all stops in the area. It is expected that Holiday and Greenfield will be closed for the majority of the 2025 construction season.
East London Link Phase III A
All lanes on Dundas between Egerton and McCormick opened on August 14 allowing all stops in the area to be reopened for passengers. There is still some outstanding work to be completed as part of this project including red lane painting and shelter installations.
East London Link Phase III B
Preliminary work on Phase III B (Highbury Ave Bridge) started on January 13, 2025. Currently the impacts are very limited, but it is anticipated that there will be further impacts to transit and overall traffic movement in the area as work progresses.
East London Link Phase III C
Construction along Highbury Ave north of the overpass to Oxford Street began in mid-February 2024.
Due to the limited options for detours, Route 10 continues to operate along Highbury for the duration of the construction. Route95 has also resumed regular operations along Highbury as the turning movements at Oxford are now feasible.
Currently all stops northbound and southbound along Highbury between the Regional Mental Health Lands and Landor (just south of Cheapside) are closed as well as the eastbound stops on Oxford between Highbury and Mornington. This is currently resulting in a 900-meter walk for passengers to be able to transfer from a northbound bus to an eastbound bus. While these closures were initially anticipated until the end of July 2024, current construction set up requires the stops to remain closed. At this time, there is no information as to when stops may be able to reopen in order to reduce the distance for connections.
East London Link Phase IV
Work has commenced on the south side of Oxford between Highbury and Second Street. All traffic is operating on the north side of the road and as such stops within the construction have been closed.
On August 11, work began at the First Street exit and as such all buses have been moved from the terminal location off Oxford Street. Buses are using the new entrance into the College off Oxford and serving temporary stops along Campus Drive and Community Gate. The work at First Street is anticipated to be completed mid-September. At that time, all routes will start using the new terminal location on London Lane.
Pond Mills Road
The MTO work has resumed with the closure of Pond Mills Road between Bradley and Wilton Grove Road while work continues on the 401 overpass. During the construction, Route 30 will again be detoured. However, this year the detour is less impactful as Highbury Ave is open which reduces the detour length.
Stops along Pond Mills between Bradley and Enterprise are currently closed and are expected to remain closed until the end of the construction season this fall.
Bradley Ave
Construction is set to begin on the Bradley Ave extension between Wharncliffe and White Oak Road in Late June. As part of this construction, Bradley between White Oak Road and Jalna Blvd (W 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
With work progressing on work along York Street, starting July 2 the Wellington and York intersection will be closed in all directions for approximately two months. This will impact Routes 1, 3, 5, 7, 13 and 90, resulting in detours and stop closures. Buses are detoured via Colborne and Waterloo to the contraflow lane on King Street.
Wexford Ave
Work commended on Wexford Ave on July 28 and requires Route 35 to be detoured via Clarke to Trafalgar missing all of the stops on Wexford Ave, Royal Crescent and Castle Drive. Work is scheduled to continue until the end of 2025.
Special Events
Western O-Week
O-Week festivities will be commencing August 30 until September 6 resulting in various road closures. During this time buses will be detoured around campus via Richmond, Windermere and Western Road.
Air Show London
The Air Show will be taking place at the London International Airport September 5 to 7th. While there will not be any road closures, it is anticipated that delays will be experienced on Routes 36 and 36A due to increased traffic around the airport and on Robins Hill Road and Huron Street.
Rock the Runway
The Rock the Runway concert series will be held at the London International Airport on Friday September 12 and Saturday September 13. Road closure signs will be put up on Crumlin Road and Robins Hill Road to help with the flow of traffic. London Transit is working with the organizers to determine if “buses excepted” signs can be added to the road closed signs to allow Routes 36 and 36A to maintain regular routing. Should ‘buses excepted’ signage not be added, detours will be put in place.
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 will provide 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, Manager, Operations Administration
Concurred in by:
Kelly S. Paleczny, General Manager