Engineering company Arcadis recently released a new 114-page Design and Construction Report, prepared for Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation, that details plans for a new highway interchange at Highway 5 and Highway 6 in Waterdown.
The Design and Construction Report summarizes the Detail Design study and environmental assessment process undertaken so far, existing conditions, and mitigation measures to address environmental concerns.
The Ministry of Transportation completed a Preliminary Design Study and Transportation Environmental Study Report in April 2003, obtaining environmental approvals.
An addendum to the Transportation Environmental Study Report was then completed in December 2013.
The purpose of the new Design and Construction Report is to develop the design identified in 2013 with more detail and “contract-specific design and construction information.”
The new Design and Construction Report is available for a 35-day comment period, which closes on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.
Those with comments can email the project team via info@hwy5andhwy6interchange.ca.
The project involves replacing the entire intersection of Highway 5 and Highway 6 with a new Parclo A-4 (Partial Coverleaf, Type A, 4-ramp) highway interchange.
Plans include the construction of a new underpass bridge that will carry Highway 5 over Highway 6 and also involve provisions for the future widening of Highway 6 to six lanes and Highway 5 to three eastbound lanes.
Multi-use pathways will also be added on both sides of Highway 5 and Dundas Street East between Clappison Avenue and Innovation Drive, and on-road bicycle lanes between Innovation Drive and Coreslab Drive.
A commuter parking lot will also be constructed in the northeast quadrant of the interchange, which will allow for a future GO bus stop.
Utility relocations will have to be completed before construction of the interchange can begin.
City of Hamilton watermains and sanitary sewers will also have to be relocated.
In addition, the report details that approximately 1.7 km of resurfacing is proposed along Highway 6, including from Clappison’s Corners to the Highway 403 interchange and the Highway 6-York Road interchange.
The document says that work will be completed in a series of 14 stages and that traffic will remain on Highway 5 and Highway 6 during construction, “with temporary adjustments, lane shifts, and traffic control measures implemented as needed.”
Throughout the Detail Design process, Arcadis says that consultation was undertaken with agencies, Indigenous communities, municipalities, and the public to form the design and hear feedback.
Construction is expected to start in 2026.
Arcadis’ project webpage for the interchange can be viewed at https://hwy5andhwy6interchange.ca/.
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