If you drive South Edgeware Road much, you already know it needs work. The City is finalizing the design now, and residents can see the plans and ask questions in person on August 18.
South Edgeware Road, from Waterworks Park to Highbury Avenue, is set for a full reconstruction, along with sections of First Avenue (from the Highway 3 Expressway to South Edgeware) and Dalewood Road (from South Edgeware to Woodworth Crescent). Construction is expected to begin in early spring 2027.
The road work matters, but it is not really the point. The project’s main job is to carry a new trunk sanitary sewer and forcemain from Yarmouth Yards, the industrial park being built around the PowerCo battery plant, to the new Dalewood Wastewater Reclamation Facility, which is under construction nearby. LocVox reported last month on the rail yard taking shape at Yarmouth Yards; this sewer line is part of the same buildout, the pipe that will carry wastewater away from the industrial park as it grows. The City is also using the project to replace aging storm sewers and watermain along the route and to build in room for future growth.
Along with the pipes, the rebuilt road will follow the City’s Complete Streets approach: new sidewalks, better pedestrian crossings, and a new multi-use path for walkers and cyclists. Roundabouts are planned at two intersections: Balaclava Street and Burwell Road. The Burwell Road roundabout was the subject of its own study. A City report this June looked at three options there: leaving it as is, upgrading the traffic signals, or building a roundabout. Doing nothing was ruled out because the intersection’s signals have to be torn up anyway for the sewer work. Between the other two, the roundabout costs more to build, about $2.8 million versus $1.4 million for upgraded signals, but the report found it cuts fatal collisions by 95 percent, costs less to maintain each year, and handles more traffic in the long run. The City picked the roundabout. It will need to buy a small amount of land at two corners of the intersection to build it, and the cost is expected to show up in the City’s 2028 budget request.
The City calls this a tentative schedule, with two main stages. The first covers Waterworks Park to Burwell Road, plus the Dalewood Road work, targeted to start in 2027. The second, from Burwell Road to Highbury Avenue, is targeted for 2028.
The Public Information Centre is set for Tuesday, August 18, from 6 to 8 p.m., in Room 304 at City Hall (545 Talbot Street). It is a drop-in style session, so residents can come by anytime in that window to view the construction plans and talk with City staff directly.
The City has already picked the engineering firm for part of the design work. J.L. Richards & Associates was awarded the contract to design the signals, pedestrian crossovers, and street lighting for the project, chosen from 15 companies that bid on the work. The City has not published a dollar figure for that contract, and no total cost estimate for the whole road project has been made public yet. LocVox has asked the City’s project manager, Mike Brix, for those figures and had not heard back as of publication. This story will be updated if new information arrives.
For now, the August 18 session is the best chance to see the plans up close and ask questions before construction moves further along.
Sources: South Edgeware Road Construction, Speak Up St. Thomas, Public Information Centre notice (PDF), Council Report ES-30-26, South Edgeware and Burwell Intersection Environmental Assessment (PDF)
By Anthony Zruna · About the LocVox Newsroom
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