Long-awaited bridge that will ease traffic in Mississauga takes early shape

A long-awaited bridge/overpass that’s expected to significantly reduce heavy traffic in Mississauga’s north end near Pearson Airport is beginning to take early shape.

More than three months after construction began on the $40-million Goreway Drive Overpass to be built over CN train tracks in the Malton area of the city, tangible progress can be seen, said the city councillor for that part of Mississauga.

Additionally, the huge project is on schedule and on budget, according to Ward 5 Coun. Carolyn Parrish.

“Goreway Bridge under construction by Alliance Verdi on budget and on time,” Parrish said via social media on Tuesday. “Can see rise of overpass growing as you walk the site. An inconvenience to close the crossing completely, but a time and money saver for sure. Malton residents have waited 30 years. Six more months won’t hurt.”

One person who commented on the post said, simply: “So excited for this. No more long waits. Long overdue.”

After decades of delays, preliminary work on the overpass began last September with the installation of the storm sewer along the tracks, according to City of Mississauga officials.

In October, the shovel officially went into the ground and work quickly ramped up on the massive infrastructure project.

Work continues on the Goreway Drive overpass in north Mississauga. (Photo: Ward 5 Coun. Carolyn Parrish X)

The main part of the job began last Sept. 27 when the busy Goreway Drive crossing was shut down to traffic to allow for construction. That section of busy road will remain closed for most of 2024 until work on the overpass is completed.

Construction of the new bridge is expected to take just over a year, putting it on target for a reopening to traffic in December 2024, according to project leaders.

When the overpass is completed, it will “significantly help to ease traffic congestion along Goreway Drive and traffic flow overall northbound and southbound between Mississauga and Brampton,” officials said earlier.

The project “represents a major investment in transportation infrastructure and is a joint-partner project between the cities of Mississauga and Brampton, and CN Rail,” Mississauga officials said at the outset of construction.

Overpass will ease traffic congestion that has plagued area for decades

Parrish noted earlier her community has been waiting three decades for the bridge to be built. It’s expected to greatly reduce traffic congestion that has plagued the Malton area of Mississauga for decades.

Goreway Drive functions as a major collector roadway in Mississauga that “provides north-south connectivity for commuter, commercial and emergency services vehicles between (Mississauga and Brampton),” project officials said earlier.

The major road crosses the CN tracks some 300 metres north of Brandon Gate Drive in Mississauga.

More than 50 freight trains per day use the three east-west tracks, and often caused traffic to back up on Goreway Drive.

Final contracts for the Goreway Drive Overpass were signed last May. The contract for the project was awarded to Alliance Verdi Civil Inc., of Bolton, and external consultants have been hired to manage the undertaking.

Some three decades in the works, plans to build the Goreway bridge took a big step forward last spring with the signing of a three-way agreement between CN Rail and the cities of Mississauga and Brampton.

Cost of the bridge is upwards of $40 million and will be split among the three partners.

The project has stalled over the years for myriad reasons, chief among them some initial mystery as to who owned the land in question.

Map shows location of the Goreway Drive Overpass, to be completed in late 2024.