City announces every road closure expected in Toronto this summer

Ah, the sweet sounds of summer.

By which we of course mean jackhammers, honking horns, and that high-pitched buzzing sound that occurs in your head just before it explodes with frustration.

Because what’s summer without construction in the city.

The City of Toronto has announced all the road closures for this year’s construction season, and there’s plenty of planning ahead for drivers.

As part of improving the city’s aging infrastructure, there will be significant work on roads, sewers, and watermains.

“We want construction season to go as smoothly as possible for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians,” said Mayor John Tory in a press release. “That’s why I’ve urged staff to speed up construction projects across the city and take other steps aimed at minimizing congestion and disruption.”

In order to minimize traffic congestion, there will be overnight projects, and some projects will have 24/7 work.

The City will invest almost $700 million to maintain and upgrade its infrastructure, including an estimated $310 million for roads, expressways and bridges, $310 million for sewers and watermains, and $70 million for basement flooding protection in 2017, according to the press release.

Major projects planned for this year include:

• demolition of the eastbound ramp from the Gardiner Expressway to York/Bay/Yonge Streets and building a new ramp at Lower Simcoe Street
• watermain work, TTC streetcar track replacement and road resurfacing on Wellington Street from Church Street to York Street
• TTC track replacement, watermain work and road resurfacing on Dundas Street from Yonge Street to Church Street
• road resurfacing on Birchmount Road from McNicoll Avenue to Steeles Avenue East
• road resurfacing and watermain work on Don Mills Road from north of Lawrence Avenue to Wynford Drive
• road resurfacing on Burnhamthorpe Road from Dundas Street West to Martin Grove Road
• road resurfacing on Lake Shore Boulevard from Leslie Street to Woodbine Avenue
• bridge rehabilitation work for Queensway Bridge over the Humber River, and
• TTC track work at the intersection of Queen Street and McCaul Street.

Overall, the City will complete about 130 kilometres of road resurfacing work and 310 kilometres of sewer and watermain work this year.

The City is also continuing its efforts to fill potholes. More than 185,000 potholes were repaired last year.

To help drivers plan their way around, the City has a web-based map identifying ongoing and emergency road construction, travel conditions on Toronto roads and special events that affect roads.

Have fun on those roads this summer, Toronto.

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