Highway 417 has been closed between Metcalfe and Carling/Kirkwood avenues since Thursday night while crews replaced the aging Booth Street Bridge. The closure forced thousands of vehicles off the freeway onto city streets, causing traffic delays on Carling Avenue, Catherine Street and other streets through Centretown, Little Italy and Westboro. At 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, construction crews were working to rehabilitate the freeway over the newly installed Booth Street Bridge in preparation for Monday’s reopening. “The highway is expected to reopen by 6 a.m. Monday,” the Department of Transportation said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa Sunday afternoon. Using “rapid bridge replacement” technology, construction crews are replacing the existing Booth Street Bridge. Thursday night and Friday, crews demolished the original bridge and then moved the new bridges into place. “The conventional approach would take about two construction periods and would mean closing one lane at a time, obviously with a huge traffic impact,” Department of Transportation, Highway Engineering and Planning Frank Vanderlaan said Thursday. “Being able to do it in 82 hours is a huge benefit.” The Booth Street Bridge replacement is the first of five bridge replacements planned in Ottawa over the next three years. The Rochester Street Bridge is scheduled to be replaced in the fall, with the Bronson Avenue and Percy Street structures being replaced next summer. The Preston Street Overpass is scheduled to be replaced in 2024. A live stream of the bridge replacement work along the Queensway is available on YouTube.

BYPASSES

The following ramps will be closed at Queensway:

Westbound O’Connor Lyon West (ongoing) Westbound Bronson (in progress) Westbound Rochester Parkdale west Maitland with east Carling/Kirkwood eastbound Eastbound Parkdale

Here’s a look at detours for motorists traveling eastbound and westbound this weekend.

West

Motorists traveling westbound will exit at the Metcalfe off-ramp Travel westbound on Catherine Street Turn left onto Bronson Avenue and travel south Turn right onto Carling Avenue and travel westbound Take the 417 freeway westbound to the Carling Boulevard on-ramp

Eastbound

Eastbound motorists should exit the freeway at Carling/Kirkwood Blvd Drive east on Carling Ave Turn left onto Bronson Ave Travel north to Chamberlain Avenue and turn right Continue onto Isabella Street Take Highway 417 eastbound to the on-ramp to Metcalfe Street