Work on Cornwall bypass hits a milestone

Construction of the Cornwall bypass has hit a milestone, with traffic being diverted over part of a new overpass at New Haven, P.E.I., as crews complete work on the interchange.

"As you approach the overpass structure, there's certainly going to be a different view than there was on the old Trans-Canada," saidStephen Yeo, chief engineer with theDepartment of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy.

The concrete overpass at New Haven had been in place for months. It marks the west end of the six-kilometre bypassthat has been under construction for years. Mondaymarked the first time traffic had usedany part of the new highway.

The project is slated to be complete by mid-October, but there's still plenty of work going on.

Crews were pouring concrete on the new bridge across the Clyde River, which is part of the bypass. With a span of 140 metres, it will be P.E.I.'s third longest bridge, after the Confederation and Hillsborough bridges.

A little over onekilometre of the bypass still needs to be paved. Roundabouts at New Haven and where the bypass crosses Cornwall Road are complete.

Project on schedule

"It's certainly a good opportunity to increase efficiencies as well as take the larger vehicle traffic out of the Cornwall area," Yeo said.

The project is under budget and on schedule to be complete in mid-October, according to Yeo.

Traffic will continue to use the overpass at New Haven while crews complete the realignment of the new road with the existing Trans-Canada Highway.

Work next spring and summer will include improvement of shoulders and a third and final layer of asphalt paving.

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