Drivers can’t catch a break: Pan Am HOV lanes out, road work in

The temporary high-occupancy vehicle lanes that were set up in the GTA for the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games came down on Tuesday night, but now, drivers will face a slew of road construction.

The HOV lanes had been in place since July 29. Enforcement ended at 11 p.m. on Tuesday and by Wednesday morning, work had resumed on several of the road projects that were halted during the Games.

The Gardiner Expressway will be reduced to two lanes in each direction from Strachan Avenue to Bathurst Street to replace the deck on the elevated portion of the Gardiner. The work, which was halted to ease traffic congestion during the Games, is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2016.

On top of the Gardiner construction, the following road projects will also resume:

• Road resurfacing and sidewalk work on Dufferin Street, from Lawrence Avenue West to Jane Osler Boulevard, will take place beginning on Wednesday and lasting until Nov. 6. One lane will be open in each direction from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.
• Northbound lanes of Lower Sherbourne Street, from Lake Shore Boulevard to Front Street, closed on Monday and will remain closed until Sept. 28. One lane of southbound traffic will be open to motorists.

 

Other road work that has begun this week includes:

• Road resurfacing work and sidewalk replacements on O’Connor Drive, from Broadview Avenue to Greenwood Avenue. It started Monday and will run until November. One lane of traffic will be open in each direction. The intersection of Don Mills Road and O’Connor Drive will be closed Aug. 28-31.
• Crews will be conducting road resurfacing work on The Queensway, from east of Islington Avenue to Kipling Avenue. It started Monday and will last until the end of November. Two lanes of traffic will be open in each direction.

 

Although the Games ended on Saturday, many drivers were wondering why the enforcement continued until Tuesday night.

Toronto police Const. Craig Brister said the lanes were still in place to get the athletes to the airport on time.

The lanes accomplished “what we need to do in getting the athletes from the Athletes Village up to the airport on time so they can get their outgoing flights,” Brister said on Monday.

During the Pan Am Games, the 235-kilometre stretch of HOV lanes were open to vehicles with three or more people, public transit, taxis, emergency vehicles, and accredited games vehicles. For the Parapan Am Games, the HOV lanes were open to vehicles travelling with two or more people.

Ministry of Transportation officials said while the enforcement ended at 11 p.m., it will take days to remove the lane markings and signs. The work will be done during low traffic times so that it has a minimum effect on traffic.

“We will be doing it during off-peak hours, which means overnight lane reductions,” Astrid Poei, spokesperson with the ministry, said on Monday.

The HOV lanes were added to highways 401, 404, and 427, as well as the Don Valley Parkway, Gardiner Expressway, and Queen Elizabeth Way.

However, the HOV lanes could return to torment drivers in the form of toll lanes. Last month, Premier Kathleen Wynne said toll lanes will eventually be a reality and it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

The premier said when and where the toll lanes will be placed has yet to be decided, but that her government wants to apply the lessons learned from the HOV lanes to create them.