Highway 7 expansion saga continues with no end in sight

Wishing for a modern, widened Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph is as much a part of living in Waterloo Region as Oktoberfest.

Newly released information from the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) shows no timeline for the completion of the Highway 7 expansion project. That same data also shows the price tag for the completed project soaring past $1 billion.

After decades of citizens and politicians calling for the busy route to be expanded, the province approved the project in 2007.

Since then, lands have been acquired, above and below ground infrastructure has been moved or upgraded, and some roads have been widened, as first steps.

But, progress, much like traffic on Highway 7, is slow.

For the past couple of years, the Frederick Street bridge area has seen quite a bit of work, but the ultimate replacement of the bridge is still a ways off.

The MTO documents show the bridge replacement beginning in 2026 and might not be completed until later in 2027.

That is also when work is expected to begin replacing the bridge over the Grand River. The price tag for that is estimated between $100 million and $250 million, and no timeline for completion was provided.

New interchanges are being installed at Frederick Street, Speedvale and the Hanlon in Guelph. Again, no timeline was provided for those projects either.

The good news is that there is movement, albeit at a snail’s pace.