Learning curve for drivers as bus rapid transit system slowly rolls out

It’s short-term pain for long-term gain when it comes to lengthy road and lane reconstruction to prepare London’s roads for its bus rapid transit system.

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“We can see some of the benefits of this already,” said Jennie Dann, director of construction and infrastructure for the city of London.

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Even though rapid transit won’t be fully operational until 2027-28, buses on King Street already are using the dedicated bus lane, Dann said.

“During peak times, there is a bus going every 90 seconds using that lane,” she said. “Those are buses that used to be weaving in and out of traffic.”

The city is in the midst of three rapid transit projects, a downtown loop around Dundas Place, a corridor that heads south on Wellington Road and ends at White Oaks Mall and an east London link that begins downtown and terminates at Fanshawe College’s campus.

Operated by London Transit Commission, rapid transit will be similar to “express routes or a subway if it was above ground,” Dann said.

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“You have your local bus routes, express routes and now we’ll have this next higher order of rapid transit routes,” she said.

While they are building transit-only lanes, the city also is fixing all transit route street surfaces, adding design elements and upgrading underground infrastructure at the same time with money from both the province and the federal government.

“The goal is to go in and fix the whole road once and be done,” Dann said. “It means we are getting a huge return on investment. We’re revitalizing 15 kilometers of road with contributions from other levels of government.”

For the most part, drivers have got the hang of the new designated transit lanes that are painted red.

HAS solid red section means cars should keep out of the lane. A stretch with red lines means motorists can cross the dedicated lane to turn right or enter a driveway, Dann said.

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“There are always a few people still figuring them out,” she said. “We have a lot of signage and try to have really clear pavement markings.

“Our biggest message is: Don’t stop or park in a bus lane.”

The downtown loop will see red paint applied next year as part of the third and final phase.

This past year’s construction focused on the third phase of the downtown loop in the section from Queen Street to Wellington and York streets.

In Old East village, work concentrated on King Street between Lyle and Ontario streets.

The city also started on Phase 1 of the Wellington Gateway project and work will continue to move downward and south. It is expected to be completed in 2026. Next year, work will begin on the widening of Clark’s Bridge over the Thames River.

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“The rest of the balance from Wellington to White Oaks mall will be built out to 2027,” Dann said.

Once a multi-year budget is released on Dec. 12 more details will be available, she said.

“This is first opportunity to come back and report on the overall budget of the three projects and overall program and some of the budget pressures,” Dann said. “That information will be part of the multi-year budget release of what the city has planned.”

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