Months after Oxford County council approved a plan for improved traffic safety in Punkeydoodles Corners, work at the oddly named hamlet’s problematic intersections is finally set to begin.
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Construction is slated to begin next week and is expected to wrap up some time in November, though county officials did warn that “timing is subject to weather and other factors.”
During the work, Road 101A and Perth Road 101 (Oxford Road 24) east of Line 33 to Concession Road will be closed to all through traffic, with access limited to emergency vehicles and local residents and businesses.
To help deal with the road closure, two detour routes will be in place during construction — an eastbound route that will involve Huron Road/Bender Road, Walker Road and Highway 7 and 8, and a westbound route that will involve Perth Road 107 and Highway 7 and 8.
The road-safety improvements in the hamlet will include a reconfiguration of the current intersections, pavement reconstruction, new deceleration lanes, additional street lighting and improved signage. When the work is finished, the west leg of Punkeydoodles Avenue at Perth Road 101 and the north leg of Township Road 11 at the intersection with Perth Road 101 will remain permanently closed, county officials said.
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While area residents are pleased that work is being done, many had been lobbying for a roundabout as a central feature of the improvements. County staff and a consultant previously agreed – based on a 20-year study – that a roundabout in the hamlet was not warranted, but county officials said that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
“That’s not to say traffic patterns won’t change in that time frame. We will continue to monitor the performance there after we make those improvements,” said Frank Gross, Oxford’s transportation manager, late last year.
The road improvements included recommendations from a joint intersection control feasibility study conducted last fall by the four municipalities that straddle the hamlet — Oxford County, Perth County, the Township of Wilmot and the Region of Waterloo. This plan, related in October 2023, considered community input, existing traffic data and projected traffic donations for the next two decade.
Once the plan was approved by the four partner municipalities, Oxford County — the project lead — awarded a $1.08-million contract for the work to Corners Capital Paving Inc. The construction is being jointly funded by the involved jurisdictions.
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