The City of St. John’s has spelled out its plans for this year’s phase of the Water Street Infrastructure Improvement project.

Work starts next week and that means significant traffic delays and detours.

Detours and delays will be in effect in the area of Waldegrave Street, New Gower Street, Barter’s Hill, and Water Street.

Motorists in Downtown St. John’s can expect some delays starting Monday as the final phase of Water Street Infrastructure Improvements get underway. pic.twitter.com/uuqf4gnAKR

— Sara Strickland (@_SaraStrickland) March 23, 2023

It’s the final phase of the five year project to replace water and sewer systems in the downtown.

Councillor Ophelia Ravencroft says they hope to have the entire project complete within a few weeks.

The city recognizes the impact, but they hope to have everything completed before the pedestrian mall reopens in June, but delays are possible.

Affected areas include:

– Waldegrave St. heading south from the New Gower Street/Barter’s Hill intersection next to the Delta will be closed to through traffic, so drivers will have to find another way to access Water Street or Harbour Drive.

– All traffic heading east along Water Street at the Waldegrave intersection will be required to use Harbour Drive as no access through the intersection will be permitted.

– Access to Waldegrave St. heading north from Harbour Drive will also be closed. Access to Water Street West and Water Street East from Harbour Drive will be maintained.

– Metrobus stops and routes will be affected, temporary stop details can be found on their website.