Hwy. 417 reopens earlier than scheduled following Percy Street Bridge replacement

Construction crews demolish the old Percy Street bridge along Hwy. 417 on Oct. 24, 2023. (Courtesy: CEECAM/YouTube)

Traffic on the Queensway is resuming following the replacement of the Percy Street Bridge.

Vehicles were seen moving normally on traffic cameras starting at around midnight, about six hours earlier than the scheduled 6 a.m. reopening.

Highway 417 eastbound between Carling/Kirkwood and Metcalfe Street and westbound between Metcalfe/Catherine and Bronson Avenue was closed starting Thursday evening and was scheduled to reopen today.

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The two spans of the new Percy Street overpass were in place Saturday. On Sunday, crews were working to connect the bridge to the rest of the highway.

During the construction, crews used rapid bridge replacement technology to remove the existing highway overpass and move the pre-constructed new bridge into position.

As of 8 a.m. Saturday, the two new bridges were moved into place and construction crews continued work around the structures. Crews continued to work through the afternoon Saturday despite the rain.

This was the third and final weekend of partial closures on Highway 417 in Ottawa this year. The highway was closed July 13 to 17 for the replacement of the Bronson Avenue bridge, and the highway was partially closed July 28 to 31 to install a pedestrian bridge over the Queensway near Greenbank Road.

Downtown road closures

Starting Tuesday, Nicholas Street northbound between the Highway 417 westbound off-ramp and Laurier Avenue will be reduced nightly to one lane between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. until Saturday.

The following roads are still closed due to the Percy Street bridge work:

Chamberlain Avenue is closed between Percy Street and Bronson Avenue until Nov. 1.

Percy Street is closed between Catherine Avenue and Chamberlain Avenue until Nov. 6.

Imperial Street is closed between Renfrew Avenue and Chamberlain Avenue.

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Josh Pringle