Construction countdown to London's first flex street

The transformation of London's main drag into the city's first flex street is about to begin.

Construction on the first phase of the two-year, $16-million project will begin on Tuesday.It will focus on the segment between Richmond andRidoutStreets.

Overall, afour block stretch from Ridout to Wellington Streets will become known as Dundas Place.

City officials say the goal is to make itinto a "people space".

• See the new look for Dundas Place as 'people space'

Although Dundas Street will remain open to traffic most of the time, it will be designed so that it can be easily closed off to host arts, culture and entertainment events.

Construction of phase one of London's first flex street is expected to be completed by the fall.

Traffic implications

Jim Yanchula, the manager of downtown projects and business relations for the city, explained the implications when he appeared Thursday on CBC's London Morning.

"Pedestrians will still be able to walk along the building facesbut the middle of the street will be fenced off so that we can get to work on ripping up the street, replacing all the guts underneath it some of it's over 100 years old and proceeding from there," he said.

The work will force London Transit buses along Dundas Street to detour. Starting next week, eastbound routes will travel along King Street and westbound routes will run on Queen's Avenue.

Vehicles won't be able to access Dundas Street from Clarence Street westward because of the work planned for the intersection at Richmond Street.

Yanuchla saidnorth-south routes will be maintained for the time being.

In time for the Junos

It's expected the initial phase of Dundas Place will be completed in time for the Juno Awards week in London next March.

• Countdown begins for the 2019 Juno Awards in host London

"It's set up exactly for that. One of the things we want to make sure that we encourage is the programming of the street," said Yanchula.

Yanchula said city officials will closely watch what kind of events are organized to take advantage of the flex street.

City officials consulted with a number of other cities in North America on what to expect in terms of how businesses alongDundas Street would be affected by the changes.

Yanchula said they were told to be ready ahead of time. That's why the city organizeda "mix and mingle" with merchants on Thursday.

"So that neighbours get to know neighboursand we work on this together as a community," he said.

Yanchula said the city will soon have moreinformation on where businesses load and get their deliveries and where customers can park.

A unique street

While many different cities were consulted, Yanchula said London isn't looking to model its flex street after any other community in particular.

"There is a mix of things that we have found but we have to tailor it to a London solution with a London context."