Mayor Tory announces congestion battle plan
Strategy to open lanes involves expediting 32 projects through extended work hours
Mayor John Tory has announced a congestion battle plan that includes speeding up 32 construction projects by extending work hours so closed lanes of traffic can reopen more quickly.
“I continue to be as dedicated as I was on Day One to getting the city moving better than when I found it and better than it is today,” Tory said Thursday standing at the corner of Bay and Wellington Sts.
Included on the list is Wellington St., where westbound traffic is currently funnelled into one lane between Church and York Sts. Construction crews are replacing a 143-year-old water main and TTC tracks followed by road resurfacing and streetscaping.
Tory said that at his “personal request” the “complicated” work will now be completed by August, two months ahead of schedule.
This will require overnight work, but there are few residential condo towers along that section of Wellington, between Church and York Sts., staff said.
Expediting the work will also add $280,000 to the cost of the project raising it to $6.9 million. Tory called it a “prudent investment of the citizens’ money.”
The city is currently finalizing details on the other 31 projects and there is no overall estimated cost, staff said Thursday.
Last year, the city paid an extra $3.4 million to have maintenance work on the Gardiner Expressway completed four months ahead of schedule. Tory said at the time it was a “modest price to pay” to counter lost productivity caused by snarled traffic.
The city is also using “real-time” data to better manage congestion and staff have completed a siteby-site audit of blocked traffic lanes that facilitate construction.
Tory said he had grown “quite upset” that some lanes were staying closed longer than needed. As a result of the audit, seven lanes have been reopened and nine more will reopen soon.
Managing road work — and the expectations of Torontonians — is a “delicate balancing act,” Tory acknowledged.