Plan to close busy Oshawa street for GO expansion will cause 'bedlam,' councillors, businesses say

City councillors in Oshawa, Ont., are calling on Metrolinx to change course on the planned closure of a main artery through the city for its GO train east expansion project. 

Pre-construction work on the new Central Oshawa GO Station, located at 500 Howard St., just north of Highway 401, has already begun, in preparation for the new station to be built.

Metrolinx is building two stations in Oshawa as part of its Bowmanville extension of the Lakeshore East line. 

The provincial transportation agency has not publicly stated how it will construct the Central Oshawa site. It also hasn't given a timeline for when construction will begin. However, city councillors say internal discussions have indicated that a closure of Simcoe Street could take place for up to a year. 

Closing the roadway would be "irresponsible," Ward 5 Coun. John Grey, who represents local residents, told CBC News.

“That would just be devastating from a business point of view, traffic congestion,” Gray said. 

“The 401 widening is happening at the same time, but unless everything is well coordinated, we're going to have bedlam if we’re not careful.”

Simcoe Street is the only continuous roadway through Oshawa, from Lake Ontario north past Port Perry, Ont.  

Gray said the area of the street the public transportation agency is proposing to close would shut off vital access to Highway 401 and separate the north end from the south. 

“I’d like them to take the lesson of the MTO (Ministry of Transportation),” Gray said. “They replaced the Simcoe Street bridge at the 401, and they did it in stages.”

Earlier this week, Gray put forward a motion to council requesting Metrolinx work with the city, Durham Region and the province to phase its construction and avoid full road closures. 

It passed unanimously. 

“Our desire is to get them to understand there's going to be severe community impacts and we need them to take that into consideration when they roll out their plans,” Gray said.

Construction schedules are still being finalized, Metrolinx spokesperson Andrea Ernesaks said in an emailed statement.