Concrete appears to have fallen from Gardiner, smashed through windshield
A Toronto man is urging the city to shut down a portion of Lake Shore Boulevard after a chunk of concrete appeared to fall from the Gardiner Expressway and smash through his back windshield.
Andrew Addison says he was driving eastbound on Lake Shore Boulevard, near Don Roadway, at about 7:45 p.m. on Thursday when a loud crash shook his vehicle. Initially, he thought he’d been rear-ended.
“I looked through my rearview mirror and noticed the sort of spiderwebbing of cracked glass on my windshield. And then like a second later it all just crashed and collapsed inward,” he said.
The east-end resident says he pulled over around the corner near Don Roadway and immediately contacted police. He suggested they close the section, underneath the part of the Gardiner Expressway that is being demolished, to motorists but says police told him they were not in a position to shut down the roadway because they weren’t immediately sure exactly what happened.
Toronto police say they received a report of an object hitting a driver’s windshield Thursday evening.
“Officers attended and checked the area and any nearby structures. Nothing of concern was found. The driver was directed to report the incident to the Collision Reporting Centre for insurance purposes and for further investigation,” said a spokesperson for Toronto Police Service.
Addison said he feels fortunate that only his vehicle was damaged.
“The thing that sort of dawned on me later is if I was six feet farther back that would have come through the windshield or come through my sunroof right above my head. So it really was the best case scenario in a bad situation,” he said.
The construction and demolition work on the Gardiner has been taking place primarily over the weekend to minimize traffic disruption and noise. Lake Shore Boulevard is closed on weekends from Cherry Street to Carlaw Avenue, but was reopened on Tuesday morning for the work commute.
Addison says that section of Lakeshore Boulevard that runs under the Gardiner is unsafe and the city needs to do something about it before someone gets hurt or worse. He believes the section running under the Gardiner was reopened prematurely.
“They just need to make sure it is safe for motorists, for pedestrians, for bikers, before they’re opening up for people to be under there,” Addison said.
“It doesn’t feel safe when you’re down there,” he added. “And my experience obviously shows that, in some instances, it really … isn’t.”
In an emailed statement, Waterfront Toronto spokesperson Andrew Tumilty said they are working with the city to remove the easternmost portions of the Gardiner Expressway, including the Logan Avenue ramps which were permanently closed on Aug. 31.
The demolition continues and Tumilty said the matter of the falling concrete is under investigation.
“We are relieved that no one was injured in this incident. Upon learning of the incident, our construction firm EllisDon was alerted and are investigating to determine what may have caused the damage,” Tumilty said.
According to Tumilty, construction work was not underway when the incident happened, so it’s unclear if the chunk of concrete was actually a piece of the expressway or came from elsewhere.
“The construction work site is continuously monitored for safety issues and precautions taken to keep workers and the public safe,” Tumilty said.
“Should there be a determination that additional safety precautions could have prevented this incident, those recommendations will be implemented.”
It’s not the first time concrete has fallen from the Gardiner Expressway. Indeed, it’s has been a problem in Toronto for decades, dating back to at least the 1990s.
Construction of the elevated freeway started in 1955 and was completed in 1966. Since then, it’s deteriorated due to inclement weather, inadequate maintenance and the passage of time.
In 2012, there were at least four documented incidents of concrete falling from the Gardiner, hitting a car in one instance.
In an email, the city said there have been “rare instances” in the past where surface pieces of concrete were loosened and fell, and that sometimes gravel has been reported falling from a truck to the roadway below.
“While these incidents are serious, the expressway is structurally sound,” said Eric Holmes, a spokesperson for the City of Toronto.
He added that detailed inspections of the expressway take place twice a year, in accordance with the province’s guidelines.