Construction of some bus stops may be behind schedule, but officials with the Region of Waterloo say it won’t delay the arrival of adapted bus rapid transit to Cambridge.
Two bus stops on Hespeler Road aren’t expected to be complete before winter puts an end to construction season.
A third has yet to be completed, but should be in short order.
All three, along with the rest of the project, was supposed to be wrapped up in October.
Thomas Schmidt, the region’s transportation commissioner, says work crews have been delayed due to unexpected findings underground.
“We ran into some utilities that were not on plans,” he said.
“Even if they’re out by a metre or a half-metre, that’s enough that we have to be looking at moving those utilities.”
Cold weather also caused a 10-day delay for some repaving operations.
Lane closures on Hespeler are expected to stop in January, Schmidt says – but then resume in the spring as work gets back underway on the final two stops.
That’s not soon enough for drivers like Fiona Golas, who uses either hespeler Road or Franklin – itself slated for construction in 2015.
“With these lane closures on Hespeler, it’s going to be chaos,” she said.
Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig says he too is “disappointed” in the continuing construction.
“We have pylons all over the city, eliminating roads,” he said.
“It’s causing havoc.”
Extra costs incurred due to the unplanned utility relocations are being covered by a contingency fund.
Craig said he hopes a solution to the program can be found – ideally one that will see the region “accelerate” the construction.
