TORONTO – Commuters could face long delays along Avenue Road this summer.
The city of Toronto started road and sidewalk repairs along Avenue Road between Bloor Street and Lawrence Avenue on Monday.
The repairs are the culmination of two years of watermain replacement and other infrastructure improvements along Avenue Road.
Stephen Buckley, the General Manager of Transportation Services with the city of Toronto, says the underground infrastructure work was done first to avoid further delays.
“The intent is that we get all the underground utilities going in and upgrading their infrastructure before we go and do our top side work,” Buckley said. “Much of that kind of avoids the situation of three, four, five years down the line having Enbridge come in, or having Toronto water come in, and basically rip up the road again only to have the top side then damaged.”
The construction is scheduled to finish September 15.
Buckley says major projects like the construction on Avenue Road are planned for the summer months to coincide with the season’s decrease in traffic.
But traffic congestions is expected and Buckley says the public needs to “be patient.”
“Give yourself a little bit more time, especially in the first few weeks until traffic patterns kind of adjust, if you can take transit, walk, bike, those things help as well,” Buckley said. “But ultimately, give yourself a little bit more time and be patient.”
Pedestrian traffic however should remain unimpeded.
The $6 million budgeted for repairs along Avenue Road is just a fraction of the $155 million budgeted for construction on Toronto’s roads and bridges in 2013.
City crews are suggesting drivers use Yonge Street, Spadina Road and Bathurst Street as detour routes during the construction.
Comments