Staff Report #5
June 29, 2026
To All Commissioners
Re: 2026 Road Construction and Special Events Update
Recommendation
The report be RECEIVED for information.
Background
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
Overnight directional closures for paving of the bridge is tentatively scheduled for July 6 and 7. Work would take place between 7pm and 7am resulting in Routes 1, 13 and 90 being detoured to Carfrae. The first night of work will see all northbound buses detoured and the second night of work will see all southbound buses detoured.
As soon as the dates for the work have been finalized, advance notice of the construction will be posted on all affected stops to advise customers of the upcoming impacts as well as through socials and the corporate website.
Wellington Gateway Phase II A
Work on Wellington between Waterman and Baseline began on April 21. Currently, all traffic has been shifted to the west side of Wellington. A temporary southbound stop has been added on Wellington north of Commissioners, which has reduced the travel distance for passengers trying to access facilities at this intersection. The London Transit Planning Department continues to work with the City of London and the contractors to establish a safe and accessible temporary stop location for the northbound direction as currently there are no stops between Wilkins and Baseline in the northbound directions.
Wellington Gateway Phase III
Overnight directional paving was completed on Wellington Gateway Phase III between Wilkins and Harlech Gate between June 1 and June 5. Finishing work continues in this area and as such stops remain closed.
Wellington Gateway Phase IV
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 continuing to complete the centre running lanes and construction should begin in the coming weeks on the temporary turn around location at Holiday and Exeter.
East London Link Phase III AE
Work commenced on 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 are on detour on Florence/York between Highbury and Egerton.
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 fully installed in the coming weeks.
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
Since May 4, Fanshawe College Blvd north of Oxford has been closed. The work was initially anticipated to take approximately four weeks; however due to construction delays, the roads are still closed and buses remain on detour. The temporary Route 111 remains operating between Oxford and Mornington and Fanshawe College, with Routes 4, 20 and 91 terminating at Oxford and Mornington order to minimize the expected schedule adherence impacts on the rest of the route.
While Route 111 is having the desired effect on helping maintain schedule adherence, Route 36 which is on a significant detour and continuing to serve the back of the College is seeing significant schedule adherence delays. Tripper buses are being added to help improve the on time performance as resources are available.
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 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.
Starting July 1, there will be a full closure of the York and Colborne intersection, which is scheduled to last into the fall. During this time the Route 7 detour will be modified to use William to King.
Wonderland and Springbank Intersection
Work to rebuild the traffic signals at the Wonderland and Springbank intersection commenced on 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 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 began on 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.
Boler Road
Work commenced on the Boler Road Cycling and Watermain Infrastructure improvements on June 15. Currently Boler is closed between Giffith and Byron Baseline resulting in a detour on Route 5. As work progresses, there will be a full closure of the Boler and Byron Baseline intersection which will require a much more impactful detour affecting Routes 5 and 17. The entire limits of the project stretch between Commissioners and Southdale.
Western and Phillip Aziz
Work commenced in May with the full closure of Phillip Aziz as well as lane restrictions on Western Road between Platts Lane and Burnlea Walk. As a result, Route 94 is detoured off Phillip Aziz for the duration of the construction and there are no northbound or southbound stops on Western Road throughout the limits of the construction. This results in over a 1.5 km travel distance between stops for passengers.
Starting in early July there will be a full closure of the Western and Sarnia intersection which will require a significant detour for all routes in the area. The work is scheduled to last approximately two weeks.
Special Events
Canada Day
With the traditional Canada Day Festivities taking place at Harris Park as well as the Special Olympics Torch Run , all routes operating along the Kensington and Queens Street bridges will be detoured starting at approximately 4pm on Wednesday July 1 to accommodate the events.
London Pride Parade
The London Pride Parade will be taking place on July 19 with the route travelling along Ontario, King, Waterloo and Dufferin. Routes operating along or crossing the parade routing will be detoured during this time.
Rides on Richmond
Rides on Richmond will be taking place on Richmond between Oxford and Central on July 19. All northbound and southbound buses will be detoured off Richmond during the event.
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