(Hamilton, Canada) – Construction has started on a new interchange at Highways 5 and 6 in Waterdown, Ontario’s transportation ministry announced October 30.

The project will replace the intersection with a bridge carrying Highway 5 over Highway 6 and new entrance and exit ramps. It also includes widening a section of Highway 5 to six lanes.

A commuter parking lot and multi-use paths for pedestrians and cyclists are part of the work. The province says the project also requires municipal roads, water mains and sanitary sewers.

GIP Paving Inc. has been awarded the construction contract, according to the ministry.

Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said the interchange is intended to ease congestion and improve safety for traffic moving through Waterdown and between Hamilton and Burlington. Those are the government’s expected benefits; the announcement does not provide measured results from the completed project.

CHCH reported that the groundbreaking took place Friday. The ministry’s release did not specify a project completion date or a contract value.

The province cited its wider investment of more than $31 billion over the next decade in highways, roads and bridges. That figure covers the broader provincial program, rather than the cost of this interchange.

Sources: Ontario Ministry of Transportation, October 30; CHCH: Waterdown construction begins.

Editorial illustration of road and bridge construction; not a photograph or engineering rendering of the Waterdown project.