John Dance

The massive Greenfield, Main, Hawthorne (GMH) project is now finishing its fourth year with at least one more year to go and with a lot of unhappy residents who are experiencing adverse effects from living in what seems to be a perpetual construction zone.

“The purpose of the overall Greenfield, Main, Hawthorne reconstruction project is to replace aging combined sewers with separate storm and sanitary sewers, replace sections of older watermains, and reconstruct the roadways, including the implementation of improved street features for the betterment of all road users in your community,” states the project’s website.

About 40 residents showed up in the pouring rain to learn of progress on the GMH project and to seek improved communications and construction practices by the City and the contractor. Photo by John Dance

Residents don’t have a problem with this “purpose” but, as per a recent meeting with Councilor Shawn Menard and the City’s project engineer, Patrick Sammon, neighbours don’t like how the project has been proceeding.

Sammon explained why there had been delays and why progress had not been “perfect” but this didn’t sit well with residents. “As I said to him then, we’re not looking for perfection,” Montcalm resident Greg MacEachern commented to The Mainstreeter. “We just want them to live up to the expectations that they established at the beginning of the project.”

“The fact that nearly 40 people turned out in the rain to ask questions of the City and the councilor’s office shows you how terrible the City’s communications have been,” fellow Montcalm resident Jim Patrick said. “The last official project update on the City’s website is almost a year old. Under current status, there’s a one-word update: ‘Underway.’ The City apparently thinks that’s all people deserve to know, even when a project is months behind schedule.”

“People are upset that there’s been zero accountability for delays or broken commitments from the City or the contractor and have had enough of the constant shrug we get from Mr. Sammon and his office whenever we raise concerns about unnecessary delays and broken commitments,” concluded Patrick.

Broken Commitments

In terms of the “broken commitments,” MacEachern noted, “We were told that if our water was going to be shut off, we would get 24 hours’ notice, Instead, at least twice water was shut off without notice. The first time we followed up we were told that our condo board had requested the shut off, which was entirely false. The next time it happened I emailed the City contacts, and didn’t receive a reply. Weeks later an official came to my door to tell me they didn’t realize our building was connected to the water line they were shutting off. That doesn’t build confidence and is terrible communications. We have had similar issues with driveway access – limited or no access.”

Other issues raised by residents were the lengthy detours; the lasting uneven crushed stone roadways and nonexistent sidewalks making it difficult for cyclists and those with mobility challenges, and poor behaviour from some of the workers and contractors, including harassment of residents.

Photo by Lorne Abugov

But it’s not all bad news. Greenfield Avenue resident Tara Hogeterp notes, “[T]he construction workers have all been lovely and accommodating helping me get in out and out of my driveway with heavy machinery and traffic directly in front of my home. They have also been attentive when pedestrians or cyclists have need to get across the street. They have been nothing but friendly and respectful of the residents.”

Sammon explained that some of the same areas have to be dug up and refilled more than once because the storm sewers, sanitary sewers, water mains, hydro and gas lines are at different depths and it’s necessary to do the deepest service first and then, later, the less deep services.

“Underground work on Concord between Montcalm and Havelock will be deferred to next year,” Sammon noted in an email to OOECA transportation chair Tom Scott. “The watermain is 1908 vintage but had been indicated as 1985 in our GIS system. Sanitary, storm, and watermain will all be replaced with associated services next year in the spring of 2025.”

“…we’re not looking for perfection. We just want them to live up to the expectations that they established at the beginning of the project.”

The Emporium at the corner of Main and Harvey is at the centre of construction activity and was also seriously affected by the first Main Street reconstruction project that ran from 2013 – 2017. After GMH is completed, the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario will spend about two years replacing the Queensway overpass of Main, right near the Emporium. “This is a permanent condition,” says The Emporium’s Ryan Power. “We’ll have been subjected to maybe 20 years by the time it’s complete.”

Unlike the first Main Street project, the project team has not provided regular updates to residents and, given the reaction of residents at the meeting, residents are not aware of a contact person whom they can readily contact to resolve construction issues.

Next Steps

The City reported to The Mainstreeter that the following work will be completed by the end of December: the remaining watermain and sewer work, including house services for areas started this year; reinstatement of roads and sidewalks with either temporary or permanent hard surfaces, prior to winter shut down to allow for winter maintenance activities; removal of detours and traffic restrictions; and demobilization by the contractor.

“Work will resume in spring 2025, with any new traffic restrictions communicated to the public in advance of implementation,” says Bruce Kenny, the City’s manager of design and construction.

Included in next year’s work is the outlet for the sanitary and the storm sewers at Main and Harvey where the contractor will remove the existing combined sewers, which currently flow under the Canal, and reverse the flows back to Main Street.

“Traffic will be heavily impacted in this area, and we foresee reimplementation of the one way traffic restriction on Main and Greenfield, although we are looking at options for reducing the duration by using weekend/night work and full road closure here,” Sammon noted.

Hydro, Rogers, and Bell work is ongoing on Greenfield between Main and Havelock, but this also should stop by the end of December. Additional utility work, intersection, and underground street lighting will largely be undertaken in 2025.

Hydro Ottawa and Rogers work on Hawthorne Avenue to transfer the overhead services to underground will start in late fall, and the poles should be removed sometime over the winter shutdown. Sidewalks and boulevards are expected to largely be complete with some gaps for where the poles have to come out.

The photos displayed here depict the extent of the disruption for residents, motorists, cyclists and pedestrians resulting from the massive Greenfield, Main, Hawthorne construction project now entering its fourth year with one more year of major work and associated restrictions projected to completion.