24-hour construction to begin Monday as part of Downtown Loop project

A map depicting the streets that will be impacted beginning May 9, 2022 for the Downtown Loop construction project in London, Ont. (Source: City of London)

Starting Monday, 24-hour-a-day work will begin at an existing construction site in London, Ont. for the Downtown Loop project.

The daytime and nighttime construction will occur at Ridout Street North between Fullarton Street and Queens Avenue. The City of London says round-the-clock work is necessary to complete underground drilling to install new pipes and sewers beneath the street.

Most of the drilling will take place between Monday and Friday, but the city does caution that some underground construction activities may be required on the weekends.

At street level, traffic conditions will not be impacted and access will be maintained to residences and buildings.

The city adds that drilling operations may cause noise and vibrations in the construction site area. As a response, crews have installed sensors at various locations surrounding the site, which will be monitored during the project. Regular construction noise should be expected, but noise barriers will be installed to minimize ground level noise.

The city adds that this phase of the project is expected to take two weeks, and construction operations will return to regular daytime operations once the work is complete.

“This work is a necessary step to install new pipelines to upgrade aging sewers downtown and other underground infrastructure to continue to support London’s growing population and help preserve the health of the Thames River,” according to a City of London press release.

The Downtown Loop project is the first of London’s new rapid transit projects and will include curbside bus-only lanes and enhanced rapid transit stops.

The project is currently in phase two of construction, which began in March 2022 and is expected to be completed by December, with some carry-over work in spring/summer 2023, according to the city.

The Downtown Loop project is expected to be completed sometime in 2023.