The City of Hamilton is estimating work on steel retaining walls at the Claremont Access, which closed several lanes March 2, will take at least until late August.
Downbound lanes on the roadway at the Niagara Escarpment were closed after a routine inspection identified erosion and slope stability concerns.
Initially, the city was exploring short-term approaches to fixing 600 metres of the steel wall allowing for a reopening of the Access, but has since opted for a long-term repair.
The so-called “escarpment stabilization program” will now see a complete removal of the walls allowing for improved routine inspections identifying areas of concern “before failures occur.”
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City closes lanes on Claremont Access in Hamilton due ‘erosion’ and ‘slope stability concerns’
“It is expected that the long-term work can be expedited, and the contractor can begin work to remove all the steel facing walls as early as May, 2023,” city spokesperson Emily Trotta said in an email.
The work is expected to take approximately three months to complete, wrapping up in late August or September.
The downbound Access lanes are expected to reopen once work has been completed.
Concerns about the stability of the escarpment were raised through a routine inspection conducted in late February by Stantec Consulting, which reported decay “indicative of a potential failure of certain sections” along the escarpment.
The city’s temporary alternative for drivers looking to get to the lower city consists of a turn onto Upper Wentworth from Fennel Avenue, down the Jolley Cut to Arkledun and then to John Street South.
The city says the next update on the repair work is expected sometime in April.
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