Photo shows traffic at Hurontario Street and The Queensway, right next to Mississauga Hospital, during work on the Hazel McCallion Line light-rail transit route in 2024. The area’s city councillor is concerned hospital construction and LRT work might combine to create problems for residents. (Photo: Metrolinx)
The “unprecedented” side-by-side construction of two major provincial projects has residents of a large Mississauga community and their city councillor concerned about the potential for significant traffic congestion, poorer air quality and additional noise.
The source of unease for those who live near Hurontario Street and The Queensway, just north of the QEW, is the ongoing work on the Hazel McCallion Line light-rail transit route, at four years and counting, and how that may combine in a possibly troublesome way with major construction that began last summer at Mississauga Hospital.
The LRT work regularly shuts down Hurontario Street lanes to traffic while work on what will eventually be the biggest hospital in Canada will bring hundreds of trucks — delivery, work and construction vehicles — each day to The Queensway/Hurontario Street site (southwest corner) during the “peak construction period.”
In addition to traffic concerns, area residents who participated in a virtual town hall meeting in late November also want to know if construction of the new hospital in combination with the LRT work will negatively impact air quality and create unwelcome noise levels.
While residents have had several years to get used to the ongoing LRT work, construction on the hospital site has only recently begun and is expected to ramp up significantly in the months and years to come.
Ward 7 Coun. Dipika Damerla assured residents she’ll keep a close eye on the new hospital build and nearby LRT construction in an effort to ensure things run smoothly.
Ward 7 Coun. Dipika Damerla, who represents the area, provided an update to the community earlier this week largely related to the hospital project, but also taking into account the LRT and its impact.
Responding to a question from residents wanting to know who coordinates the hospital and LRT projects with an eye toward ensuring things run smoothly, the councillor said it’s unclear.
“It is unprecedented that two major provincial construction projects are taking place in the same area at the same time,” Damerla wrote in an email update to her constituents. “My concern, frankly, is that at this point there is no one person or office that has oversight of both projects. It is true that there is active coordination between the teams. My concern is, hypothetically speaking, what happens if one wants to shut down lanes on Hurontario for the LRT while the other wants to continue to send construction trucks down Hurontario? Who is there to referee?”
Continuing, Damerla observed “there is no single formal authority that can direct both projects at once to reduce disruption. The City (of Mississauga) does not have decision-making authority over these two projects. I have publicly raised this issue at city hall and will continue to raise this issue with the province.”
Another virtual town hall meeting is scheduled for March 23.
As work continues on the $13.9-billion hospital build, which will see The Peter Gilgan Mississauga Hospital take its first patients in 2034, noise, vibration and air quality readings will be monitored in real time by project leaders, Damerla told residents.
Those readings, she added, will be shared with hospital officials “so we can respond quickly if levels change or concerns arise.”
The focus, Damerla said, “is on addressing issues quickly, maintaining safety and being transparent when concerns arise.”
When completed, the new 22-storey, 2.8 million-sq.-ft. hospital will house within it the Shah Family Hospital for Women and Children, to be the first such medical facility in Ontario.
Construction began on the massive new health-care centre last June and it’s being built on the same site as the current Mississauga Hospital, which first opened at that location in 1958.
Infrastructure Ontario is in charge of the new hospital project while Metrolinx is the provincial agency overseeing construction of the $4.6-billion Hazel McCallion Line.
When it’s completed, the LRT route will travel 22 kilometres along Hurontario Street from Port Credit in south Mississauga north into downtown Brampton.
Initially supposed to open to passengers in late 2024, the LRT line has encountered delays and a completion date is not known at this point.
Last 30 Days: 86,402 Votes
All Time: 1,188,037 Votes
1000 VOTES
Do you think it is worth $21 a year, per household, for plows to clear snow at the end of driveways?
INsauga’s Editorial Standards and Policies
WIN A $100 GIFT CARD
Subscribe to INsauga’s daily email newsletter for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card.