Downtown construction work on Lake Shore to impact drivers for two weeks

An already painfully slow rush hour drive through downtown Toronto is about to get even slower.

Gas pipeline replacement work will shut down a portion of Lake Shore Boulevard near Rogers Centre starting Wednesday morning, coinciding with a large number of Toronto sports fans flocking to the area over the next couple of days.

The work by Enbridge Gas will have westbound Lake Shore down to a single lane west of Rees Street from 7 a.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. Saturday.

The lane closures come just in time for a Wednesday afternoon baseball game at Rogers Centre between the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago White Sox. The area is expected to again see higher than usual levels of traffic volume on Thursday night when the Toronto Maple Leafs play Game 5 of their first-round playoff series at Scotiabank Arena.

If you’re heading to Blue Jays game today or Leaf game tomorrow keep this in mind:Two lanes of WB Lakeshore closed between Scotiabank Arena & Rogers Centre for gas pipeline replacement work. City says will last until Saturday but may wrap up earlier. Two EB lanes are next week! pic.twitter.com/aGfUwUIh7X

— carl hanstke (@carlCityNews) April 26, 2023

The city says there will be traffic agents deployed to the area during construction who will monitor congestion. City staff will then implement any “necessary signal timing modifications required to reduce delays and keep traffic moving.”

Early next week, two eastbound lanes of Lake Shore will be closed approaching Rees from 6 a.m. Monday to 11 a.m. Saturday. It’s all part of a project by Enbridge to replace a 4.5 kilometre 20-inch gas pipeline that runs along Lake Shore between Bathurst and Cherry streets.

“The city is facilitating this important work to ensure the safety and reliability of pipeline infrastructure,” reads a release from the City of Toronto. “The current pipeline, which was installed in the 1950s, provides natural gas to critical customers, including hospitals, who count on a reliable, dependable energy source for their daily operations.”

Lanes that were previously closed on Lake Shore between York and Yonge streets for the pipeline work were reopened last Saturday.

Source: Enbridge Gas

Last week, Toronto announced a wave of new traffic agents have already been deployed to critical intersections around the city. The main goal of the agents is to educate and encourage behaviours that keep traffic safely flowing, they also have the authority to write tickets.

Earlier this month, the City announced the implementation of Priority Travel Routes to coincide with the start of construction connecting the Ontario Line to the TTC’s Queen Station — work that will fully close Queen Street from Victoria to Yonge streets and Yonge to Bay streets starting on Monday, May 1, 2023.

As the construction on the Ontario Line progresses, the City will announce more Priority Travel Routes, adding that some existing permits and bylaws may be cancelled or amended.