For the first time, a definite timeline has been set to determine the fate of the Gardiner Expressway.
The City of Toronto must make a decision on the eastern portion of the crumbling elevated roadway by 2014.
Four options are available with regard to the eastern section of the elevated expressway – rebuilding it, improving it, tearing it down, or simply leaving it alone.
At a technical briefing held Tuesday, city staff said that the expressway is currently structurally safe, and will be for the next six years.
“The Gardiner is in a safe condition,” John Kelly of Capital Works Delivery told CP24. “No one should be concerned about driving on it or driving under it. City staff is doing everything that is required to ensure that it is maintained in a safe condition.”
That said, the roadway does require repairs.
Beginning mid-summer, interim repairs will begin taking place east of Jarvis Street, Kelly said. In 2014, replacement of the entire deck will begin starting around Strachan Avenue.
“During that construction period, we are going to maintain at least two lanes of traffic in each direction, trying to minimize the impact on the driving public,” Kelly said.
At Tuesday’s meeting, city staff also revealed a revised rehabilitation plan that switched the focus from the expressway’s east end to the west end, arguing that there is no point in pursuing extensive work on the east end if council ultimately decides next year to tear the highway down.
The switched focus will mean a savings of roughly $200 million, staff said.
With files from CP24’s Sue Sgambati
