A postmortem is underway at Toronto City Hall after a significant delay reopening the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway following a cycling event over the weekend sparked traffic chaos.
The two key expressways were supposed to be closed from 2 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday for a charity bike ride, but delays kept them closed two hours longer than expected.
The unexpected and extended closures led to confusion and gridlock in parts of the city. It meant two of the busiest routes in Toronto were shut to drivers for around 16 hours over the weekend.
The latest portion of the roads to reopen was the DVP’s southbound lanes at around 6:45 p.m.
“There really needed to be more explicit communication and we’ll look into (it) see what happened and it to make sure that never happens again,” Barbara Gray, Toronto’s transportation manager, said.
The bulk of the closure was publicized in a news release from Toronto police on Friday morning. The announcement said a Bike for Brain Health event would take place on Sunday, closing the DVP and Gardiner until 4 p.m.
When the time to reopen came, however, the city said event organizers weren’t ready. Gray said safety equipment from the event had not been cleared up, leaving officials unable to reopen the roads.
The bike ride involved 9,000 people and raised $5 million for charity; city officials told Global News.
Jennifer McKelvie, Toronto’s deputy mayor, said in a statement she had asked for a full review of what went wrong.
She said city staff waited hours to begin work to get drivers back on the roads.
“I understand City staff were ready to start reopening plans by 1:25PM yesterday but the event’s contractor didn’t start removing equipment until 3:09PM,” she said.
In a statement, Bike for Brain Health acknowledged the delays.
“All road closures and re-openings are managed by a third-party vendor, and we are working closely with them to better understand the cause of the delay, and to ensure that this does not happen again,” a spokesperson said.
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