Each year, we improve and upgrade our local roads. This helps prepare them for continued use and keeps drivers, cyclists and pedestrians safe.
On this page:
- About road construction
- Current road closures
- Cost of road construction
- How road construction affects you
- Help us plan
- Road project contracts
- Apply for a road work permit
About road construction
In some cases, we simply replace the surface of a worn, cracked road surface. These short-term projects include:
- grinding up and replacing existing asphalt
- repairing curbs
- laying new asphalt
Other projects require more work, which often includes replacing worn, outdated or failing infrastructure, such as:
- roads
- buried pipes, such as water, sewer, gas mains
We do this work because:
- The pipes or road surface within the road may be old and due for replacement, which is typically 70 to 100 years for older pipes. After that period of time passes and depending on the condition of the road and underground pipes, parts will begin to wear, break and fail. Our goal is to replace these aging assets before they interrupt service, as well as our own municipal assets.
- The older infrastructure - whether it's a road or a pipe - may be too small to handle higher volumes that come with growth. This infrastructure must be made larger to accommodate the increased use and demand.
Current road closures
Check our list of road closures for roads the city is working on. Use this map to see city and regional road construction projects.
How road construction affects you
Road construction projects may affect your life or commute. Please be patient if work is scheduled to take place in your area. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Learn more on our impacts of road construction page.
Help us plan
Visit our Engage Kitchener page to find:
- more information about road reconstruction projects
- staff contact information
- opportunity to ask questions about a project near you
- answer our questionnaire, which helps us design construction projects while considering your circumstances
On our construction projects page, you can find staff contact information for construction projects across Kitchener.
Road project contracts
We do not have our own road reconstruction crews and equipment. We contract this work out to private construction companies that are awarded contracts through a competitive bidding process.
The planning, design, management and day-to-day control over a project is done by either:
- our own staff as a complete in-house operation
- a private engineering consulting firm, who is awarded the contract through a competitive bidding process (city staff are still included on the consultant's project team, and we still have the final say on how the project proceeds)
Cost of road construction
We use these sources to pay for road construction projects:
- our property tax base
- user fees (example: your water bill) for projects that include rebuilding water and sewer pipes
- other utilities, such as natural gas, electrical, and telecommunications, pay for their portions of the construction based on the amount of work done to their property during the project.
We do not charge residents directly for road construction.
Apply for a road work permit
You need a work permit to occupy or close any city road, sidewalk or boulevard to conduct work or other activities. You cannot carry out work on any part of a city road, sidewalk or boulevard without a valid permit. If you do work without a permit, we may issue fines.
You must apply for a permit a minimum of 5 business days before you plan to start work.
Regional roads
If you need a permit for a regional road, apply through the Region of Waterloo. Check the full regional road listing.