{"id":3316,"date":"2013-11-12T15:04:31","date_gmt":"2013-11-12T20:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vivanext.com\/blog\/?p=3316"},"modified":"2013-11-12T16:07:20","modified_gmt":"2013-11-12T21:07:20","slug":"clearing-the-way-for-construction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/2013\/11\/12\/clearing-the-way-for-construction\/","title":{"rendered":"clearing the way for construction"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever watched a new subdivision get built, you know how fast the work seems to advance.\u00a0 Crews install utilities, build rough roads, and before you know it there\u2019s an entire subdivision ready for families.\u00a0 But building a new roadway in a densely built-up area is a completely different challenge: the work seems to go on for a long time, and progress is hard to detect unless you know what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been working flat-out on Davis Drive for a year now, with dozens of complex activities underway or completed from Yonge to Leslie. \u00a0Even so, most of our effort so far has been about clearing the way, rather than constructing a rapidway and stations.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the predictable reality of modernizing our roads and revitalizing Newmarket\u2019s infrastructure, but it\u2019s worth explaining why we can\u2019t get going on roadway construction until these steps are completed.<\/p>\n

A key work priority has been to build retaining walls to enable the road widening along the hilly contours of Davis Drive, \u00a0with that work now nearing completion.<\/p>\n

And like all major thoroughfares, the foundations of the existing Davis Drive roadway are literally lined along both sides with existing critical infrastructure carrying water, telecommunications, gas, storm sewers and sanitary sewers.\u00a0 Much of this infrastructure crosses the road at intervals and in many cases the various utilities are stacked up in multiple layers.\u00a0 In addition, at the sides of the road are hydro poles and lines, transformers for electricity and telecommunications, fire hydrants, and a whole range of privately owned signs for businesses and commercial buildings.<\/p>\n

As much as we love getting to the stage of putting down asphalt and constructing the beautiful viva stations, we can\u2019t start this until the right-of-way is completely clear. Once we\u2019ve built the retaining walls, we need to relocate everything else, one element at a time, further back and out of the way of the new wider roadway.\u00a0 Relocating utilities is a complex task in itself, requiring a highly detailed level of coordination between gas, hydro, telecommunications and other utility companies.<\/p>\n

Each type of utility has its own specific requirements about how and where it can be relocated, and which one goes deepest, which has to be installed last, and so on.\u00a0 Each element requires its own program of design work and approvals.\u00a0 And lastly, different crews are responsible for specific utility relocations, and there are rules about how closely they can work relative to adjacent work crews.<\/p>\n

So the job of getting the roadway clear for construction is a huge, time-consuming and enormously detailed process \u2013 without even considering the new bridge<\/a> and\u00a0retaining walls<\/a> that are underway. With multiple activities to be carried out in each block, some people may wonder why we\u2019re not progressing more quickly.\u00a0 But the reality is that we\u2019ve already completed much of the work needed to clear the roadway, and widening has already started in some segments.\u00a0 Because so much of the work is underground, there isn\u2019t much to see yet.\u00a0 But as crews start paving, it will feel and look like progress is starting to take shape.<\/p>\n

Even though building a rapidway is a long process, people along Highway 7 in Richmond Hill and Markham can attest that the transformation does come to fruition. Residents and visitors alike are now enjoying the Highway 7 rapidway. We look forward to the day the Davis Drive rapidway is complete and Newmarket can enjoy the finished result too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever watched a new subdivision get built, you know how fast the work seems to advance.\u00a0 Crews install utilities, build rough roads, and before you know it there\u2019s an entire subdivision ready for families.\u00a0 But building a new roadway in a densely built-up area is a completely different challenge: the work seems to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96,53],"tags":[18,943,92,49,14,34,11,939,7,70,9],"class_list":["post-3316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction","category-general","tag-city-planning","tag-construction","tag-davis-drive","tag-newmarket","tag-rapid-transit","tag-rapidway","tag-transit-only-lanes","tag-urban-planning","tag-vivanext","tag-vivastation","tag-york-region"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3316"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3319,"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3316\/revisions\/3319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yrrtc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}