Downtown London poised for major growth as $18M sewer project wraps up

CTV’s Gerry Dewan with an update on how a massive sewer project will transform the future of downtown London.

London, Ont.’s downtown core is on the cusp of a significant transformation, with a recently completed $18 million infrastructure project set to unlock decades of development opportunities.

The expansion of sewage capacity for the city’s core, a project culminating in a remarkable feat of engineering beneath the Thames River, is expected to fuel growth and revitalization.

The breakthrough moment for the project came when a specialized tunnel boring machine, after days of traveling under the Thames, emerged in a shaft located in Ivey Park. During its subterranean journey, the machine reached a depth of 14 meters below the riverbed.

Jennie Dann, director of Construction and Infrastructure for the City of London, described the operation as “an example of micro-tunneling” and highlighted its scale, stating, “It’s one of the largest tunneling projects we’ve ever done in the city’s history.”

The project involved creating two new tunnels under the river to replace a smaller sewer link that was nearly a century old.

“This means that we can do more intensification, more growth, more development,” Dann told CTV News, emphasizing the project’s capacity to support an estimated 17,000 new residential units.

The previous downtown sanitary sewage system had reached its capacity, leading to significant downtown development applications being put on hold.

Mike Wallace, executive director of the London Development Institute, which represents numerous major developers, expressed optimism about the project’s impact.

“It’s the heartbeat of any community. It can be a real heartbeat for London,” Wallace said of the core, adding that the upgrade will now allow the city to unlock the downtown’s “tremendous amount of potential” by ensuring a solid base for people to live, work, and utilize the area as an entertainment hub.

The sewer capacity expansion was undertaken in conjunction with a significant upgrade to the Greenway Wastewater Management Facility.

Dann further noted that the new sewer link, combined with other ongoing sewage infrastructure work in the downtown, will dramatically reduce the environmental impact on the Thames River.

“It’s all part of a larger system that’s going to improve capacity but also protect the health of the Thames River,” she explained, referencing years of work to separate combined wastewater and stormwater sewers in the core and the new upsizing of capacity under the river.

City projections anticipate London’s population reaching 750,000 by 2050, making such infrastructure investments crucial.

Connections for the new lines are expected to be made in the coming weeks. Following the completion of underground work at locations in Mitchell A. Baran Park and Ivey Park, restoration efforts will begin.

The city is aware that some commemorative trees were removed during construction and has committed to replacing them and reinstalling their plaques once work is finished.