Rehabilitation work on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto is being accelerated by allowing 24/7 construction and as a result it is expected to be completed one year earlier.
The announcement was made today (July 24) by Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria, who was joined by Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, following public outcry about the congestion the construction is causing on the major highway.
“We know the rehabilitation of the Gardiner is taking a toll on Ontario families and businesses with rush hour travel times more than doubling,” said Sarkaria. “Our government is helping to accelerate construction on the Gardiner Expressway by at least one year, providing up to $73 million to the City of Toronto on the condition that work be allowed to proceed on a 24/7 basis.”
Chow called the congestion “painful.”
“When we have infrastructure projects or we are fixing our roads and sewers, when we’re building new housing you see from all the cranes in the sky, it gets harder to get around our city,” she noted.
The accelerated timeline will move the construction completion date from April 2027 to at least April 2026.
“Ontario’s investment will support contractors working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with multiple shifts per day, with additional measures supported through this agreement to improve traffic flow, including modification of the Jameson to westbound Gardiner on-ramp and opening a left turn lane at Spadina Avenue from Lake Shore East Boulevard, as well as relaxing noise restrictions and overnight lane closures,” Sarkaria explained.
Once construction is complete, drivers will save up to 22 minutes per trip, he added.
“I use the Gardiner almost every single day commuting into Queen’s Park and I can tell you it’s added almost 45 minutes to my drive into the city,” Sarkaria said.
The 60-year-old highway is being rebuilt between Dufferin Street and Strachan Avenue. The current phase of work on the Gardiner Expressway involves the full demolition and rebuilding of 700 metres of elevated roadway from Dufferin Street to Strachan Avenue, rehabilitating the supporting structures and adding a new traffic management system and streetlights.
“We are demolishing and rebuilding that stretch of elevated highway while four lanes of traffic continue to be driving on it,” said Chow. “It’s a really complex project that is replacing 700 metres of superstructure including concrete deck, girders and 35 vertical piers. We know that it is impacting people’s ability to get around, so the city has been working to find ways to accelerate this rebuild.”
Staff has consulted with the industry experts and have changed traffic management around the Gardiner, Chow said.
“We are doing this by adding additional crews of workers, extending the working hours, buying more equipment to help us speed up the demolition but also address the technical issues like curing the concrete in the winter time, faster production of the girders and the rebar, changing the design of some of the girders to speed up the installation and so much more,” said Chow.
The financial details will be shared once the contracts are negotiated and finalized by the contractors, she added.
More details are also expected this fall on co-ordinating various construction activity in the area, road closures and incentivizing construction companies to work faster with less closures.
The city and the province are also working together to minimize the noise impacts on residents.
“There are certain parts that can be worked on at certain times…and just enabling that flexibility for our contractors to be able to do so. It’s also about making sure that we reduce this from three to two years and that full year of disruption,” Sarkaria noted.
When asked about penalties for contractors who do not meet timelines, Sarkaria said if those are not met, they’re not going to get the incentivization payments to complete the project.
“If those individuals, that contractor, does not meet the specific deadlines then that payment will not be made,” he stated. “It’s very much an incentivization plan to ensure that the contractor is able to deliver. That way, we believe, will help encourage the speed of this project. All hands are on deck on this one, from our resources to also currently there is only one span per week that’s being done that will increase to three to five. There will be considerable measures put in place to help support the speed of this including even unique ways during the winter to be able to continue construction.”
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