Victoria Street bridge in Kitchener set to close at the end of January

As part of the first phase to build a new, four-lane Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph, the Victoria Street bridge willclose on Jan. 29 for construction work that will replace the existing bridge.

During construction, which is estimated to last until the end of November,the section of Victoria Street between Edna and Bruce Street will be closed.

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Local businesses in the area were notified earlier this week of the up-coming closure, some sayingthey are not overly concernedandare taking a "wait and see" approach.

"We don't think it's going to affect us too much," Jennifer Scheel, acting manager at Factory Shoe in Kitchener told CBCNews.

"It's obviously going to be an inconvenience for everyone. It's going to be aninconvenience to the people coming from Guelph."

However, Pat Knechtel, general manager of K-W Surplus,predicts their business may see a 30 per cent loss.

"It's going to affect business but we don't really have a choice in the matter," Knechtelsaid. "It's hard to judge. I'm guessing a 30 per cent hit but you just have noidea until it happens."

Construction

"Replacing the Victoria Street bridge will facilitate construction of the future Highway 7 to Highway 85 freeway to freeway interchange," LianeFisher-Bloxam, communications coordinator with the Ministry of Transportation told CBC News.

Thisphase of the project will involve several construction developments such as:

• Demolishing and rebuilding the existing Victoria Street bridge, which will have a wider span
• Road improvement of Victoria Street between Edna Street and Bruce Street
• Rehabilitation of the Metrolinxrail bridge, Wellington Street bridge and GuelphStreet bridge

Fisher-Bloxamsaid there will also be long term ramp closures at the Highway 85 and theWellington Street ramp,the Highway 85 southbound Edna Street off ramp and the Bruce Street northbound on ramp.

Detours

Construction throughout the 10 months will have impacton local traffic and detours will be put in place.

There will be road access for local businesses on Victoria Street between Edna and Bruce Street, said Fisher-Bloxam, adding that there will be detours put in place throughout construction.

For local traffic, detours include:

• Edna Street
• Frederick Street
• Bruce Street
• Wellington Street
• Shirley Avenue
• BingemansCentre Drive

Fisher-Bloxamaddsthere will be a 24-hourclosure of Highway 85 at the Victoria Street Bridge during a weekend in February or March.

"That is to demolish the existing bridge," she said.

"During that closure, traffic will be rerouted by the southbound Wellington Street off ramp and the northbound Bruce Street off ramp onto detour routes with OPP assistance."