And on Monday night, entire QEW will be shut to remove old bridge

Steve Hardaker
Community Correspondent

Drivers should avoid Glendale Avenue at the QEW this weekend as construction work will  shut down Glendale from Friday through Monday.

And on Monday night, the entire QEW will be closed for 12 hours at Glendale.

The first step is a three-day closure of a portion of Glendale.

With the opening of the new QEW/Glendale Avenue diverging diamond interchange planned for Monday, Sept. 26, Glendale will be closed in both directions between Taylor and York roads.

Glendale will not be passable from 10 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 23 until 5 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 26 to migrate traffic onto the new overpass.

As well, all on- and off-ramps for the QEW will be closed.

When it reopens Monday, drivers, cyclists and pedestrians will be using the diverging diamond overpass.

However, for about two months, only the QEW’s Toronto-bound exit ramp at Glendale and the Niagara-bound on-ramps from Glendale will be operational when the overpass opens.

Drivers will be able to use the QEW/Mountain Road interchange to access the Toronto-bound QEW or to exit the Niagara-bound QEW until new ramps are completed.

The next step in the massive $53.8-million project is to dismantle the old Glendale Avenue interchange.

That will be done Monday night, Sept. 26, when rapid demolition techniques will be used to break up and take down the old bridge.

The highway is scheduled to be closed from 7:30 p.m. Monday to 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. In case of weather or other problems, Tuesday night is a back-up.

At one of the public education sessions for the new interchange, Andrew Bernard, project manager with Brennan Paving & Construction Ltd. and lead contracting firm for the project,  described the rapid demolition technique.

A thick layer of sand will be placed on the QEW below the old overpass.

Then heavy-duty excavators, hydraulic hammers and other equipment will be used to break up the old road and drop it in pieces onto the QEW.

All the debris must be cleared away overnight before the highway can reopen.

Work remaining on the project includes construction of a new carpool lot and the Airport Road loop ramp under Glendale Avenue. All that work should be completed by the end of October.

Between then and June 2023, rehabilitation work will commence on the existing QEW pavement.

The project will end next June with the construction of a roundabout at Glendale Avenue and York Road.

Steve Hardaker has lived in Glendale for 12 years and is active in several community organizations.