LaSalle council to decide whether to close Malden Road during rehab project

Malden Road at Valiant Steet in LaSalle, Ont., Sept. 21, 2025. (Rob Hindi/AM800 News)

LaSalle council will be asked to decide Tuesday evening on how to move forward with the Malden Road rehabilitation project.

Phase one will cover the stretch of Malden from Normandy Street to Reaume Road.

In May, council approved the expropriation of land from 20 property owners along Malden, with negotiations still underway. The town needs the land to complete the upgrades to Malden.

Administration is seeking approval to issue a tender and is recommending the council adopt a full closure of Malden during construction.

Mayor Crystal Meloche said a full closure would result in savings of $725,000 of the $15 million dollar project and shed approximately two months off the project time.

“Obviously safety is always a concern. Sometimes it’s easier to be able to do such a large construction project when a road is completely shut down so that it’s safer and you can move around, but that is a very big decision council is going to have to make on Tuesday, because obviously that has huge implications for the Town of LaSalle as far as traffic movement goes,” Meloche said.

Meloche said a full closure would still allow resident and business access; however, no regular traffic would be allowed to flow for about a year.

“That is not an easy decision to make, and I think we’re going to have to hear the full report from administration to help us decide what makes most sense and what the detours would look like if we were to go down that road of a complete closure,” she said.

Meloche said the project includes several major infrastructure upgrades.

“So that’s putting in the third lane, turning lane, it’s also putting in new bike paths and trails, as well as putting in that light at Reaume and Malden Road, and I believe it also includes two additional pedestrian crossings along that way,” said Meloche.

Meloche said the town is hoping to begin utility work by the end of the year, with construction starting by mid-2026.

- Written by Dustin Coffman and Rob Hindi/AM800 News.