More construction and a new roundabout coming to Ottawa St. in Kitchener

Waterloo Regional Council approved the construction of two new roundabouts in the city of Kitchener at a meeting on Wednesday night.

One of the roundabouts will be at the intersection of Ottawa Street and Westmount Road while the other will eventually arrive at New Dundee and Strasburg roads once they eventually meet.

The first roundabout is part of an extensive construction project which will see work take place on Ottawa Street between Fischer-Hallman Road to Mowat Boulevard.

In addition to the roundabout, the $10 million Ottawa Street project will see watermain and storm sewer installations, replacement of the Shoemaker Creek Culvert as well as a new multi-use trail on both sides of Ottawa Street.

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The work on that project is expected to begin in June and will last until the end of 2025 with the work expected to take place in sections.

The Strasburg Road extension is a city of Kitchener project is currently designing which will see the street extended from Rockcliffe Drive to New Dundee Road.

While the extension is still early in the planning phases, a staff report to council says that work on the extension could begin as soon as next year.

The City of Kitchener is said to be on board with having a roundabout at the intersection between the city road and the regional road.

The reports on both projects spoke of reasons for the roundabouts including pedestrian safety and the environment.

“A study of 30 roundabout in Ontario found that pedestrian collision rates are approximately 40 to 60 per cent less then pedestrian collision rates at comparable traffic signals with similar traffic and pedestrian volumes,” the reports noted.

“The proposed roundabout will have lower life-cycle costs and reduce idling times, which will result in fuel savings and reduced vehicle emissions and will support the Region’s climate goals.”