GRAVENHURST - Next Tuesday travel on Highway 11 by Gravenhurst will get a bit slower as the Ministry of Transportation begins work on the Gull Lake Narrows bridges.
On Oct. 9 Zenith Contracting Ltd. will begin the rehabilitation project by closing the southbound bridge and diverting all traffic to the northbound bridge. This means there will only be one lane of traffic open to each direction and speed reductions will be in place.
Ministry of Transportation contract services administrator Shane Cassidy reports that once the first stage of construction is complete, approximately July 31, 2013, all four lanes and the two bridges will be reopened.
During the construction period when southbound traffic is sent to the northbound lanes, access to Pinedale Avenue will be closed off from Highway 11. Access to Pinedale will only be available through the Town of Gravenhurst. Hewitt Street access from Highway 11 will only be available from the northbound lane.
Another phase of construction that will last from midsummer until about Oct. 15 may see occasional closures of a lane in either or both directions during non-holiday weekdays.
Access to both Pinedale and Hewitt will reopen once the first phase is complete, but will close again in the fall when a second phase begins.
Cassidy said that closure may last until either late spring or early summer of 2014, depending on weather and speed of construction.