County Road 90 construction could last until 2020

CTV Barrie: Construction underway on County Rd. 90 A major construction project is underway on County Road 90 and Heather Wright looks at what it could mean for drivers.

Work continues on a major construction project on one of the busiest roads in Simcoe County – County Road 90 between Barrie and Angus.

It's a project that’s expected to slow down the 21,000 drivers who takes County Road 90 every day for a little while longer.

Simcoe County is widening the road from one lane in each direction to two, plus a middle turn lane. About 12.5 kilometres of road will be under construction, from County Road 27 all the way to Angus.

“It's going to be great but it's going to be bad for a while as well,” says Debbie Korolnek, who is with the county.

She says they are doing their best to keep traffic moving.

“Our aim is to keep two lanes of traffic open during construction but there will be detours and … sometimes things happen and we can't avoid it.”

The entire project will cost the county $56 million with 85 per cent of the cost being covered by the development charges that come from new home construction. And this isn't a one-summer job: the road will be under construction until 2019 or 2020.

Paul Abrams owns an auto shop on County Road 90 and is looking on the bright side when it comes to traffic jams.

“So far it hasn't bothered us at all,” he says. “If anything it's good for business; traffic gets backed up and people are seeing us.”

This phase of construction is expected to wrap up at the end of August. But next spring, the orange cones will once again dot the shoulders of County Road 90 as work resumes.