Toronto construction-related traffic delays due to 2015 Pan Am Games: John Tory

Toronto’s mayor said the city is doing everything it can to finish road construction projects so commuters don’t have to deal with gridlock anymore than they have to.

“I know it has been a difficult summer,” John Tory told reporters during a Tuesday afternoon press conference.

Tory revealed that of the city’s 85 construction projects, more than half were on an extended schedule. Five projects were operating on a 24-hour schedule and construction on eight projects happened overnight.

“It has been a difficult summer because in part we’ve had virtually no construction going on last year because of Pan Am and this postponed a number of projects that simply had to be proceeded with,” he said.

Bibi Rahaman is a courier who said downtown traffic triples her travel time and cuts into productivity.

“A three-lane road goes down to one and you see nobody working – nothing being done – and they block off the whole road,” she said. “It is frustrating – very frustrating.”

“It’s only left for you to pull the hair out of your head.”

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According to the City of Toronto’s traffic management website, 683 construction-related disruptions were affecting traffic and 194 of those were categorized as “major.”

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Delays are expected to continue into the fall season because of road construction.

A complete shutdown of the Gardiner Expressway during the weekend of Oct. 21 will cause the biggest issue, according to Tory.

“We’re working hard on every front, from technology to construction to event management, to try and get traffic moving better in this city,” he added.

“Dundas Street will be next summer’s hot spot because again there is track replacement that has to be done and water main work that has to be done.”

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Tory also revealed a pilot project placing police officers at key intersections this summer to assist with tackling traffic congestion showed positive results, although data has not been released.