Between 30 to 40 residents attended a drop-in public meeting to learn more about the upcoming Mount Pleasant Street and Road Phase 2 construction project on Monday, July 6, 2026.
Phase 1 of the project was completed in 2025 and consisted of the installation of a trunk sanitary sewer on Gilkison Street, watermain and left turn-lane installation on Conklin Road, assumption of the water distribution system from the County of Brant, and surface improvements.
The upcoming work, which will take place along Mount Pleasant Street/Road from Tutela Heights Road to Clench Avenue, includes watermain upgrades, trunk sanitary installation from Gilkison Street to Tutela Heights Road, local sanitary installation from Magee Street to Tutela Heights Road, and private sanitary drain installations to property lines.
The multi-year project is set to run from summer 2026 to summer 2028, and will be done in three stages.
“The primary focus of the project is to install new watermains and sewer systems, as well as select storm system sewers throughout the Mount Pleasant corridor from Tutela Heights to Beckett Drive and Clench Avenue. The entire project corridor is roughly 1.1 to 1.2 kilometres long,” said Evan Cassidy, Senior Project Manager for Growth for the City of Brantford. “It’s being split into multiple stages, with Stage 1 being the Tutela Heights to Gilkison Street stretch, and then Stage 2 being Gilkison Street to Tutela. In 2028, the entire corridor will be finalized with installation of surface asphalt, curbs and landscaping.”
Cassidy said the work is intended to not only improve aging infrastructure to provide adequate levels of servicing, but to also allow for continued growth in the Tutela Heights community.
“The primary benefit is that we’re upsizing the watermain to increase and improve water supply. That will improve access for fire flows within the area for emergency services, as well as support both current and future development, while maintaining and improving service for existing residents,” he said. “…The primary focus of this job is to build the underground servicing, so that should further development happen in the trigger lands or the west block land, the underground services will already be there. The only work needed then, will be the road work rather than any additional pipe work.”
Traffic impacts and detours will vary depending on the stage of construction, though Mount Pleasant Street/Road will be open to local traffic only throughout the duration of the project.
Stage 1:
- Two-way local traffic will be maintained and controlled by traffic flagging operations where applicable for watermain installation.
- Local traffic will be limited to southbound travel only during sanitary sewer installation, taking place approximately October 2026 to May 2027.
Stage 2 and 3:
- Again, two-way local traffic will be maintained and controlled through traffic flagging operations where applicable.
“The project was originally planned and budgeted to go to construction two years ago. The main reason for the delay was that we refined the design to make sure that we could maintain a single lane of traffic down Mount Pleasant Road from Gilkison to Tutela,” said Cassidy. “The original proposed design would have required full open-cut reconstruction, including extensive, full road closures with very deep sewers, and a closure of the Tutela Heights intersection. The design team intentionally worked with our designer, MTE Consultants, to refine the design to make sure that we could maintain at least one lane of traffic on the road at all times, so that is now being facilitated and issued through Stage 1.”
Two-way traffic detours for cars will run from Mount Pleasant Road and up Conklin Road, onto Shellard Lane and Veterans Memorial Parkway, while trucks will be instructed to use Erie Avenue/Cockshutt Road and Phelps Road.
When asked about the feedback received throughout the drop-in meeting, Cassidy said residents’ reactions varied.
“We’re receiving mixed responses. There’s obviously been a lot of trepidation, specifically about the impact of this project, as well as other construction that has happened, or is happening in West Brant,” he said. “The primary reason that a lot of these areas are being targeted for construction is because it’s a very old part of the city and it’s due for upgrades. But the intention is not to, by any means, pigeon hole or frustrate traffic. We are doing everything we can to be proactive and maintain safe, and functional traffic as much as possible.”
Cassidy said that while the detours will likely lead to frustration, he asked that residents be patient with the work.
“We are very sorry to residents for the impacts and the pains that we know this is going to create. We know that it’s not going to be easy for a period of time, and we empathize with the residents in the area and their frustrations,” he said. “We’re doing what we can to get everything done as quickly as possible, and to make sure those detours don’t need to be any longer than necessary. Please be patient with us, and if there’s any questions about the project, the City is always accessible via our engineering department, and the email is engineering@brantford.ca”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
