It’s official: Minister says painful Gardiner Expressway project will be completed a year early
Posted November 7, 2024 10:23 am.
Last Updated November 7, 2024 10:50 am.
The province’s Minister of Transportation confirmed on Thursday that construction on Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway is ahead of schedule and will be completed sooner than anticipated.
Prabmeet Sarkaria said the long-term construction on the Gardiner Expressway is now entering Phase 2. The Minister of Transportation cited the government’s $73 million investment in the project, which allowed work to be done 24/7 to finish it one year early.
Construction crews have finished work on the south side of the Gardiner between Dufferin Street and Strachan Avenue. They will move into the bridge’s centre before work on the remaining two westbound lanes is completed.
“We’re making real progress on our government’s plan to fight gridlock and keep drivers moving,” Sarkaria said.
“Under the leadership of Premier [Doug] Ford, we’re not only getting it done on the Gardiner Expressway, but we’re also bringing common sense changes to bike lanes through new legislation and speeding up the construction of priority highway projects like Highway 413, Bradford Bypass and the Garden City Skyway bridge, to help get drivers across the province out of gridlock.”
From mid-April to mid-2027, the Gardiner was to be reduced to two lanes in each direction between Dufferin Street and Strachan Avenue, with intermittent additional lane closures as required.
The Gardiner Rehabilitation Project was initially supposed to be completed in 2027, but that date was moved forward to 2026 to ease traffic congestion concerns. Once concluded, the Gardiner will be revitalized with 700 metres of elevated roadway from Dufferin Street to Strachan Avenue, including updated support structures, new streetlights, and an upgraded traffic management system.
Since construction started, studies have found travel times have increased by up to 250 per cent during rush hour. The province says that when the project is done, more than 140,000 drivers relying on the Gardiner daily will save up to 22 minutes per trip.
According to the Toronto Region Board of Trade, Toronto commuters face the longest travel times in North America, spending an average of 98 hours each year in rush-hour traffic.
