How will the heart of Old Town — NOTL’s economic crown jewel — keep beating when run over by excavators, cement pumpers, steel-hauling delivery rigs, dump trucks and a swarm of contractor vehicles building the Royal George complex?

What’s the plan to contain mayhem? To save local businesses from going kaput? To survive several years of clogged roads, closed areas and serious impact on the tourist river that keeps this economy watered?

I asked the builder. No reply. I asked the Shaw. Ditto. I asked the mayor. “Your questions about a construction plan will have to be referred to town staff,” he said. He told me to ask Nick Ruller, the chief admin guy. “Our manager of development planning can assist in providing this information,” he said. Aimee Alderman will do it. But she didn’t. Instead I heard from Marah Minor — the Karoline Leavitt of NOTL.

Yes, she said, “The town has received a traffic and construction mitigation report, which identifies the time allotted for demolition and construction, as well as construction vehicle routes.”

So, there is a plan after all.

But it hasn’t been posted online. No copy has been given to elected officials. And the only way to see the report is to make a formal request, go to town hall and do so in controlled circumstances. That took me to Chrisopher Mazerolle, another staffer. And finally to the report.

Man, it felt like I was Geraldo opening Al Capone’s vault on live TV.

And what’s in this vault?

Lots. The construction process has already been extended by three months from what Shaw told residents during the summer. The best case, the if-nothing-screws-up scenario, is 33 months. But, of course, stuff happens. So call it three years.

The process of demolishing a host of heritage buildings, digging a massive and deep hole and then constructing a 55,000-square-foot building (three times the Courthouse) in the middle of a residential area and our saturated commercial strip is complex. That’s why the “mitigation” report runs close to 50 pages and is thick with detail.

Old Town residents — on Victoria, Prideaux, Simcoe and Queen — can expect up to 50 trucks per day during various phases of the project.

Dumps, flatbeds and tractor-trailers. A towering crane will offload steel and other materials from Victoria, which will be down to one lane most of the time. The sidewalk will be closed on one side. The boulevard used for storage. Parking on the other side will be removed during most construction days.

The report suggests several thousand truck trips will be necessary in total. Every single one will come down Mississagua Street, turn onto Queen and head to the heart of the downtown to the site. Every one will then move deeper into the residential area to get out and back to Mississagua.

Three route options are being considered, but all have problem corners and turns where tractor-trailer drivers will be forced to “swing wide.” The current ban on big trucks — like our heritage rules — goes poof.

The hundreds of workers and contractors on site will be asked not to park on residential streets in a ‘hood that’s already clogged with tourist vehicles. Shaw is suggesting they dump their pickups and vans a few block away — and carpool (have you ever seen a tradesguy in a carpool? I thought not).

In short, during construction times (mostly weekdays), Old Towners and merchants can expect to see a truck about every nine minutes. Until the summer of 2029. For most of that time, as well, the sidewalk on Queen Street will be closed and pedestrians forced to detour onto the road.

There’s more. The “mitigation” report is detailed and definitive. It will take seven months to dig the hole and build to ground level (60 dump trucks per day then). Eleven months to erect the structure. Another 16 months to fabricate the interior. Four months to build the faux façade.

What now?

Town staff reviews it. The public does not. Council does not. Nobody votes on the plan. It gets reviewed, finalized and approved, Chris told me, at the director level.

And then they tell you.

Garth Turner is a NOTL resident, journalist, author, wealth manager and former federal MP and minister. garth@garth.ca