DVP, Gardiner & Allen Expressway All Closed For Part Of Weekend 2
Posted June 3, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s the weekend when drivers feel ambivalent about the biggest road closures of the entire year. Both the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway will be shut down at the same time for 12 hours on Sunday, as the cars make way for the bikes. It’s all part of the Ride for Heart, an annual event that raises big money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. In an appropriate symbol, raising all that dough requires clearing the city’s two main arteries so participants can pedal or skate down the corridors of both massive thoroughfares.
But drivers don’t have to pledge money to pay a price. The race means the Gardiner will be closed from Carlaw to the Humber Bridge and the DVP will be off limits from the 401 to the Gardiner. Barriers will be up from 2am to 2pm. Organizers hope by holding it on a Sunday close to summer it will provide the least inconvenience for motorists. But every year, those behind the wheel wonder about the wisdom of closing the city’s two most important downtown routes while grudgingly admitting it’s for a good cause. They should be used to it by now – this year marks the event’s 20th anniversary. Organizers raised a record $2 million in 2006.
As if that inconvenience isn’t bad enough, drivers uptown had to find alternates as well. Toronto Transportation Services picked Saturday as the day it completed its annual maintenance on the Allen Expressway. The northbound lanes will be closed from Eglinton to the 401 for 24 hours. One lane will be taken out from Dell Park Ave. to Lawrence on Sunday for the same time period. And you’ll be losing the northbound Allen Road off-ramp to Lawrence Ave. until next Wednesday at 6pm.
Expect every alternate to be extra busy during all the closures. The good news for drivers – this is the last major scheduled maintenance on any of the big three until the fall.
But the highways aren’t the only hassles. The long-awaited opening of the new wing of the Royal Ontario Museum resulted in the closure of Bloor St. from Avenue Road to Bedford. It started Friday morning and didn’t end until 3am Sunday.
Accommodations for the Luminato Festival also had Front St. West from Yonge to Bay out of bounds from 7pm-11pm Friday. And Cumberland St. from Bellair to Old York Lane and Yorkville Ave. from Bellair to Hazelton St. was stopped up from noon to 7pm on Saturday.
For the latest on road info, call the Ministry of Transportation’s ” Trip Info” at (416) 599-9090.
