By Robin MacLennan
Ontario Construction News staff writer
Dundas Place, London’s first flex street, officially opened Monday with a final brick laying ceremony.
The two-year project has transformed Dundas Street — from Ridout Street to Wellington Street — from a commercial corridor to a new streetscape aimed at bringing people together.
The last brick was set in place by London Mayor Ed Holder along with Councillor Arielle Kayabaga, the construction team and members of the Dundas Place community. This also marked the re-opening of the street to traffic from Wellington Street to Rideout Street.
“Today, we complete the foundation for London’s first flexible street,” Holder said in a statement. “With all four blocks open, Londoners can now move through the area with ease, enjoy the extra-wide sidewalks, start to see the beauty in the streetscape and regain easy access to the shops and services and restaurants.”
Amico Infrastructures Inc., one of five bidders, was awarded the $27 million contract and construction began in Spring 2018. The city’s portion of the cost is just under $15 million, and $12 million comes from utility companies doing work at the same time.
Turning Dundas Street into Dundas Place – the largest single infrastructure project in the downtown core in the London’s history.
More than 700,000 paving bricks were laid during the 2018 and 2019 construction seasons. With the “floor” complete, the street will be open, but finishing touches will continue throughout the winter and into the spring 2020.
“Dundas Place is a shared space for all Londoners regardless of how they are travelling, but you’ll notice that it looks and feel different than any other street in London,” says Doug MacRae, director of roads and transportation at city.
“While it’s still a two-way street, it has been redesigned to provide a more comfortable and welcoming experience for people who are walking, bicycling or driving,” he said.
London’s flexible street is curbless and incorporates mid-block crossovers, allowing pedestrians to navigate from side to side with ease. It has been designed to accommodate vehicles and will remain open to two-way traffic whenever the space is not being used for an event or activity requiring one or several blocks to be closed to traffic.
The design encourages lower speeds, includes extra-wide sidewalks and flexible streetscape features such as tables and chairs, moveable planters, removable bollards and special lighting units to encourage activation of the space year-round.
In addition to the above-ground transformation, storm sewer, sanitary sewer and utility (internet, hydro, water) renewal work was also completed.
An official grand opening of Dundas Place in the spring of 2020.
Here are some unique features of the flex street:
- The paving pattern is wave-like design, meant to evoke the river motif that designers drew from the Thames River.
- It’s flat, so people in wheelchairs, people with baby strollers or people with delivery carts can move from one side to the other, without any need for ramps.
- Yanchula adds that people with visual impairments will still be able to identify when they’ve strayed too far from the pedestrian zone through a change in the texture of the paving.
- Pebble seats were put in front of the library because of the many children who visit the central branch – one of a few fixed elements along Dundas Place. Most elements are removable to allow the city to widen the space during big events.
- Many kinds of newly planted trees along Dundas Place – chosen to grow in tough urban conditions – pits go far beyond under the ground and are held up by a grid network of heavy-duty synthetic plastic cubes filled with soil
- Removable objects on the street include seats, bollards, planters and some lighting – to allow for more options during activates along the street.