More headaches for drivers: Richmond Street partially closed starting Monday for construction

Drivers navigating around Toronto will have to deal with yet another major downtown artery being restricted for construction, this time on Richmond Street East.

Starting on Monday, Richmond between Parliament and Sherbourne streets will be reduced to two lanes. As well, the dedicated bike lane will be closed.

There will be times during off-peak hours where the roadway will be reduced to just a single lane.

Crews will be replacing an almost 150-year-old watermain and upgrading other water services along the stretch of the roadway.

All lanes are expected to reopen at the end of December, but crews will return in the spring to put the finishing touches on the project.

The impact of this construction is bound to be severe, as Richmond is one of the main exits to downtown from the Don Valley Parkway and sees a large volume of traffic daily.

Drivers can expect the delays down the DVP onto the Richmond ramp to get even worse, and traffic being snarled on Richmond between the DVP and Parliament.

Richmond is one of many east-west downtown arteries bogged down with construction this fall.

Construction recently started on Adelaide, which has that route down to a single lane in spots between Spadina Avenue and Bay Street. College Street is also undergoing a major overhaul, with full and partial closures of the road between Bathurst and Bay streets. Also, Bloor is impacted by long-term construction — which is behind schedule — between Parliament and Sherbourne, so there’s no relief on that route.

The City is asking drivers to plan in advance, give themselves extra time and drive safely though the construction zones as they replace this critical infrastructure.