The City of Hamilton advises the public that No. 1 Car Park will be temporarily closed between May 8th and May 24th in order to facilitate the carrier ship off-loading, storage and transportation of BELCO engines and transformers. The equipment is part of a necessary upgrade to BELCO infrastructure. It will make the slow journey from Front Street to Cemetery Road via the streets of Hamilton starting at 6:30pm over the course of eight nights during the closure. Only one round trip journey will be made each night that should take approximately two hours. Rolling road closures will also be in place during each journey but major traffic disruptions are not expected. Proper signage will be in place.

Senior City Engineer, Ian Hind, said of the closure, “BELCO is commandeering the cark park a few days before the ship arrives at No. 1 so that security measures can be put in place – fencing, etc, - in No.1 Car Park. There won’t be any public access to the lot at all during the closure.”

The City has been working with BELCO to determine a suitable route that the equipment can travel that would have the least amount of disruption, especially to City trees and any overhead BELCO wiring. Cedar Avenue had been looked at as the easiest and fastest route but the beautiful canopy that the mature trees there have created would have disappeared due to tree cutting that would have been necessary to accommodate the size of the engines.

Mr. Hind added, “The engines arriving are of monolithic proportions and we had to come up with a suitable route through the City, from the dock to Cemetery Road, so that City trees, especially those along Cedar Avenue, would not have to be sacrificed to accommodate the equipment’s transportation. That’s how big these things are. We have established a route through the City and the transportation operation will start after rush hour each evening with signage in place. It should be quite a sight to see.”

The engines and transformers will travel on a special 18-axle flatbed vehicle, shipped in for the occasion, that will move along the route at a walking pace. A comprehensive traffic notice that lists the roads that will have closures along the route can be found on the City’s website under the News tab and will also be published in the Royal Gazette.

The City apologizes for any inconvenience caused due to the closure of the Car Park and transport of the equipment. The Public are reminded that short-term parking can always be found at City Hall as well as PLV Car Parks.

• Press release from the City of Hamilton