Ava Road Bridge Rehabilitation Project
Background
The Ava Road Bridge, constructed in 1958 is a four-span concrete slab on steel I-girder bridge with a total length of 59.73 m. The bridge is located in the City of Brantford between Paris Road and Brant Avenue. The bridge carries traffic on Brant Avenue over two (2) CNR tracks and the service road. The surrounding area at this site includes the intersections of Ava Road/ Brant Avenue and Paris Road/ Terrace Hill Street.
The bridge underwent major rehabilitation in 1985 and 1998. In 1998, the rehabilitation included removal of expansion joints, concrete patch repair at deck, piers, abutments, and diaphragms, replacement of bearings at the north abutment, blast cleaning and coating of girder ends and steel bearings, and replacement of deck waterproofing and pavement on the deck.
The project, originally made up of the bridge rehabilitation and intersection improvements, was split into two phases to improve traffic flow, and pedestrian and worker safety.
Aerial view of the site showing the intersection configuration prior to the Phase 1 work
Phase 1 - Completed in 2019
Phase 1 involved the re-alignment of the Paris Rd/Terrace Hill Street intersection to address operational deficiencies. The re-alignment forms part of the overall plan of the Ava Road Bridge rehabilitation to improve pedestrian safety movements across the bridge. Work commenced with the design and re-alignment of the Ava Road/Terrance Hill Street/Paris Road intersection and concluded with the reconstruction of the roadway, curb, sidewalk, boulevards, storm sewer and associated items.
Aerial view of the site showing the Phase 1 intersection improvements
Public Meeting - April 26, 2023
To inform Phase 2 of the project, a public meeting was held on Wednesday April 26th, 2023 . We are pleased to share materials from the meeting [9 MB] for your information.
Phase 2 - Currently Underway
A 2013 bridge inspection recommended the following: repair of the concrete throughout, replacement of the expansion joints, repair of the asphalt on the wearing surface and cleaning and painting the structural steel.
In 2021 the City retained McIntosh Perry Consulting Engineers Ltd. to carry out a detailed condition assessment of the bridge structure, as well as preliminary and detailed design. During the assessment, deterioration to some beams on the east side of the bridge was discovered. The deterioration of the beams was extensive enough to cause further investigation of the structural integrity of that particular portion of the bridge. Out of an abundance of caution, it was decided to close the east side of the bridge until the rehabilitation is complete.
Approved construction approach
City staff, in collaboration with our engineering consultant, McIntosh Perry Consulting Engineers Ltd., conducted a thorough analysis of the project's timeline, costs, traffic, and other potential impacts. The analysis performed by McIntosh Perry demonstrated significant savings in both time and financial resources, if the bridge were to be fully closed during the rehabilitation project. As it proves to be the most efficient and cost-effective approach while minimizing disruptions to the community, City Council approved this recommended approach in March 2023.
Despite delays caused by shifting from staged construction to a full bridge closure approach, and ongoing discussions with CNR with respect to fulfilling their requirements, the project is currently progressing as planned. The chosen contractor has been finalized, and Phase 2 construction began in Winter 2024.
As of May 16th, 2024, CNR has issued permits to allow the City to complete the required bridge construction work within the CN right-of-way. The City shall be proceeding with the closure of the Ava Road Bridge to facilitate the reconstruction work the week of May 27th, 2024. Through-traffic between Brant Avenue and Paris Road, and through-traffic between Ava Road and Brant Avenue shall be disrupted as a result of the bridge closure. A pedestrian and vehicular detour shall be implemented as follows to direct traffic accordingly:
Pedestrian Detour
Due to the closure of the Ava Road Bridge, there shall be no pedestrian access at the bridge between Paris Road and Brant Avenue. Pedestrians on either side of the bridge shall be required to detour to either St. Paul Avenue (1.7km route) or Hardy Road (2.9km route) to bypass the bridge closure, as outlined in the image below:
Due to the length of the pedestrian detour route, the City has organized the rerouting of the NWIA bus to loop from Paris Road proceeding northbound through the NWIA and back southbound on Ava Road heading to the transit terminal, where it will loop back to Paris Road. Temporary bus stops shall be erected at the intersection of Paris Road and Henderson Avenue, and at the intersection of Ava Road and Westmount Boulevard. This will allow pedestrians to ride the bus from one side of the bridge to the other as required. The adjusted route is outlined below:
The updated NWIA bus route is available online, where the status of the bus travelling the route can be observed. Bus Schedules are also available online.
Vehicular Detour
Following the closure of the Ava Road Bridge, through traffic between Paris Road and Brant Avenue shall be required to follow the clearly marked detour signage that will be in place. There are two (2) vehicular detours outlined in the link above; one (1) is a truck detour that shall remain the same throughout the entire bridge closure, and the other is a small vehicle detour that shall have two (2) different phases. The truck detour is described below:
- Truck traffic proceeding northwest bound on Brant Avenue shall be directed northeast onto St. Paul Avenue.
- Truck traffic proceeding northeast on St. Paul Avenue shall be directed west onto Tollgate Road.
- Truck traffic proceeding west on Tollgate Road shall complete the detour route at the intersection of Paris Road.
This truck detour route shall function in the reverse for truck traffic looking to proceed southwest on Paris Road past Tollgate Road. The truck detour shall end in the reverse at the intersection of St. Paul Avenue and Brant Avenue.
The small vehicle detour shall redirect traffic around the closure of the Ava Road Bridge through detouring on both St. Paul Avenue / Terrace Hill Street, and St. Paul Avenue / Dufferin Avenue / Preston Boulevard / Parkside Drive / Riverview Drive / Westmount Boulevard depending on whether access is required to Paris Road or Ava Road. Temporary speed humps have been installed on Parkside Drive, Westmount Boulevard, and Dufferin Avenue to act as traffic calming to the vehicles following the detour routes. Additionally, a temporary parking restriction has been implemented on Westmount Boulevard and Dufferin Avenue to allow for adequate turning movements of transit vehicles, and to reduce congestion within the roadway.
Phase 1 of the small vehicle detour varies from Phase 2 in that it facilitates the closure of Ava Road between Westmount Boulevard and Brant Avenue to allow for the completion of watermain reconstruction work on Ava Road. In Phase 1, southeast bound traffic on Ava Road shall be directed down Westmount Boulevard to Riverview Drive, to Parkside Drive, to Preston Boulevard, to Dufferin Avenue, and finally to St. Paul Avenue where the detour will end at the intersection of Brant Avenue. Phase 2 shall direct southeast bound traffic on Ava Road along a similar route, but shall no longer direct traffic down Westmount Boulevard, instead having southeast bound vehicular traffic be directed down Parkside Drive, to Preston Boulevard where the detour shall remain the same as Phase 1.
While the Ava Road Bridge is closed, local businesses on Brant Avenue shall remain open. Access to these businesses shall be from St. Paul Avenue.
The full rehabilitation project is expected to be completed in Fall 2024, at which point the bridge shall be reopened, temporary speed humps removed, transit routes restored, and detours decommissioned.
The Project Team
If you have any questions about this project, please contact us using one of the following methods:
- By Mail – please mail to City of Brantford Environmental Service Admin Building, Attn: Christian Bean, City of Brantford, 324 Grand River Avenue, Brantford, ON N3T 4Y8
- Phone – please contact the City at 519-759-4150, Ext. 5413
- By E-mail – please contact the Project Team
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