THUNDER BAY — The intersection of Victoria Avenue and Archibald Street is closed and will stay closed for the next 15 to 16 months.
When it reopens, Victoria Avenue will connect through to Brodie Street for the first time in nearly half a century.
City officials said this section of road, near the entrance to the Centennial Square strip mall, will stay closed until until Oct. 31, 2026 — for the duration of Victoriaville Centre demolition and main construction of the city's Reimagine Victoriaville project.
During this time, businesses and organizations inside the mall will remain accessible with alternate, exterior entrances.
“I think the team that took charge of this in the phase one and two did a good job of involving the businesses and making sure that they were satisfied that they were going to get the access that they needed,” said Kelvin Jankowski, manager of capital facility construction.
Aside from the intersection itself, the roads are open to local traffic only on Archibald between Miles Street and Justice Avenue and a short stretch of Victoria Avenue, between McKellar Street and the Centenial Square entrance.
To help navigate the area, Jankowski said there is a detour map posted to the city website.
“There will be an area on Archibald that will have a covered walkway that will allow access to places like St. Joe's (health centre) and things like that,” said Jankowski.
With demolition starting this summer, the storefront work is expected to continue from summer into fall.
Jankowski said road work, as well as sewer and water, will start in 2026 once Victoriaville’s roof is gone and is slated to be complete by the end of the construction season that year.
Afterwards, there will be landscaping work to be completed in the spring of 2027, he added.
“There will be things evolving as demolition occurs and things get brought down. There’ll be access changing and those will be updated regularly on the website,” said Jankowski.
The website for the redevelopment project also provides contact information for those with questions about the construction.
“If there’s any concerns or worries that people have or access issues, please let us know and we’ll do our best to alleviate those,” said Jankowski.
