Adelaide underpass construction starts this week in London

Getting caught waiting for the train to pass Adelaide Street North near Central Avenue is a way of life for many Londoners, but not for much longer. This week, construction begins for an underpass below the CP train tracks intended to ease traffic. 

The city will begin with the stretch of Central Avenue between Adelaide and William Street, where they'll be working on the storm and sanitary sewer replacement and the watermain for about the next three months. Only pedestrians will have access to this area.

Jennie Dann, who is the city's construction infrastructure services director, said that the initial work likely won't affect traffic too much, but things will change in the late summer when the construction begins on Adelaide Street.

"To keep traffic flowing through the area during construction, we'll be building a temporary road next to Adelaide Street through McMahen Park, and once that road is built then traffic will switch over and start using that route," she said. 

"That transition is expected to happen toward the end of July or into August, and at that point that temporary road will have one northbound and southbound lane."

The frequency and length of the train passings has caused serious delays for drivers and pedestrians in the city and can result in gridlock in the area, but the project to fix this won't be complete until at least 2024. 

"You will see some reductions in lanes from four down to two," said Dann. "At that point, people can expect to see some traffic impacts. So we're encouraging people to head out the door a little earlier to give themselves more time or maybe plan an alternate route around the area."

"Well, it's about time," said John Wright, who spoke to CBC News while sitting in his vehicle, stuck behind a train on Adelaide Street. He estimates that he gets caught behind it every two to three days. 

"I thought they should do it in 1965 when they put the Quebec Street overpass," he said, laughing. "When I was a kid."

Lindsay Bloch was also stuck behind the train, and said it happens twice each week. 

"It gives me more time to surf online," she said. "I put my car in park, I turn it off usually and just wait it out."