The transformation along Highway 7 in Markham continues and the excitement is building. While we are all happy with the results of the completed section of Highway 7 East, there’s still work to be done on the remainder from Highway 404 to Warden Avenue. We are working hard towards completion and opening of the remaining 5 stations by the end of the year and making the most of every sunny day.
Crews have been busy with road widening, boulevard and centre median work and are now paving. When you start seeing the steamrollers, you know the job is getting close to being completed. There are a few steps to rapidway paving work which include street painting of the crosswalks, and paving of the red asphalt for the rapidway. Right now crews are working on base layer paving from Allstate Parkway to South Town Centre Boulevard, as well as line paving and traffic switching.
Sometimes you may wonder why we’ve returned to an area even though it seemed like we were finished. In fact, what you’re seeing is that we are coming back to complete work which has to be done in layers. Everything has a sequence and a process to finish the job. Paving requires only a few hours, but new pavement can’t be travelled on right away. We schedule paving work carefully to try to avoid paving during the most congested times of the day.
To minimize overall duration and immediate impacts to motorists, residents and businesses, crews will be working overnight and on weekends – weather permitting. This enables work to be completed in an area or on a piece of the construction that has a higher impact so that crews can then move on to the next section. To ensure safety during paving, police officers will be onsite to direct traffic and assist pedestrians.
The good news to remember is once the final paving is finished, we will be that much closer to opening the next section of the rapidway along Highway 7. Think sunshine!
One reply on “steamrollers help roll out the transformation on Highway 7”
I’m surprised nobody complains about this project. Making pretty bus stops for how many millions? Devoting lanes on Highway 7 will cause many years of gridlock. I bet my comment doesn’t get published.
DaleA: Hi Sam,
Thank you for your comment. By bringing rapid transit to York Region, vivaNext is contributing to the development of a wider range of housing options to meet the needs of all of York Region’s citizens now and as it grows. Most of the housing to be built in the centres will be multi-unit, higher density apartments and condominiums. Elsewhere, other neighbourhoods will be kept predominantly single-family housing. With so much of the planned growth and new housing being built along the corridors and in the centres along the rapidways, there will be less pressure on other areas. The goal is to provide for a healthy relationship between all types of new growth, offering more choice and more flexibility for people – a key measure of the quality of life offered in York Region. We appreciate that construction is disruptive, but the end benefits are something we can all look forward to.