Restrictions placed on some lanes of major Toronto roadways that were put in place for the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games were lifted on Tuesday night.
Temporary high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes were put in place on high-traffic roads, including the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway, in mid-June. The lanes were also put in place on provincial highways including Highway 401 and the Queen Elizabeth Way.
The lanes were created to help athletes and officials get to and from events during the Games, while encouraging carpooling with the advantage of access to temporary lanes.
During the Pan Am Games, the lanes were only accessible to accredited vehicles, motorcycles, taxis, public transit, emergency vehicles and those vehicles with three or more occupants. For the Parapan Am Games, vehicles with two or more occupants could use the lanes.
The Games officially ended at a closing ceremony on Saturday, but remain in effect until Tuesday night to give athletes time to leave the city, according to Games officials.
The lane restrictions were lifted at 11 p.m. The removal of signs and pavement markings began Tuesday evening, and is expected to take a two or three nights to complete.
A statement from officials said the diamond lane markings will be scraped from the pavement, but the line markings between lanes will be left to wear out over time.
Now that the lane restrictions have been lifted, a construction project put on hold for the Games will resume on the Gardiner Expressway. Though the HOV lanes will no longer be in place, traffic will be reduced from three lanes to two in each direction of the Gardiner starting Aug. 19.
The lane reductions will be between Bathurst Street and Strachan Avenue, and are expected to last until mid-October. During construction, the city recommends alternative travel options including cycling, public transit, carpooling and travelling outside of rush hours.
