Rideau Street is set to re-open to some traffic on December 16th; two months after a sinkhole collapsed a section of the road. Work on the LRT tunnel underneath the road has continued at a good pace, allowing the road to re-open to busses and taxis.  It has been a long haul for the businesses along Rideau and for the buses having to detour around that road but there is a light at the end of the LRT tunnel.

The dust, the noise, the mess.   It has not been easy for drivers or pedestrians.

“It is a war zone,” says one woman walking along Rideau, “and it's getting annoying. Hurry up Ottawa, construction workers.”

The “war zone” was aggravated in June of this year by the sinkhole on Rideau near the LRT line.  The road was shut to all traffic in October, to allow workers round-the-clock access.  December 16th, buses and taxis will start to roll again.

“Every day counts,” says the councillor for the area, Mathieu Fleury, “We are going into the Christmas period and every day leading into it matters.”

For businesses along Rideau, any improvement is welcome news.

“It's been a long haul,” says Eric Dionne, the owner of Top of the World, “It will be nice to see the street full of people, especially heading into the holiday season.”

“At least they're solving the issue, that's the good thing,” says another man walking by the store.

There is more good news; after a record construction year involving 225 projects, the city says we can expect fewer construction nightmares next year.

Alain Gonthier is responsible for infrastructure services for the city of Ottawa, “I think what you'll see in 2017 is still going to be construction but a lot less that will have an impact on the downtown core or the transportation corridors.”

Some projects, like the rejuvenation of Main Street, will take a pause over winter but about a dozen others will continue.

As for what is in store for us this winter, predictions are for a classic Canadian winter but the city says it's ready for it.

“Colder temps and above precipitation is what we are hearing,” says Luc Gagné, head of Roads Services for the city, “it is something we have seen before and have dealt with, with the resources we have at hand.”

As for the cause of that Sinkhole on Rideau, the city says that is still under investigation, but they are confident precautions are in place to prevent it happening again.