Cherry St. bridge won’t be fixed anytime soon
Channel crossing became stuck upright last month
As the weather warms up this week, Torontonians trying to get to Cherry Beach will have to take the long way around.
Cherry Street south of Polson Street has been closed since late April after the old Cherry Street bridge over the ship channel got locked in an upright position when it was damaged and it won’t be fixed until at least next week.
“It’s a 92-year-old bridge. It was constructed in 1931,” Mayor Olivia Chow said at an unrelated announcement Monday, referencing its aging infrastructure. “I was stuck there (last week). I couldn’t get into the film studio, because you can’t get through.”
After sustaining hardware damage on the main shaft and lifting mechanism on April 22, the aging Ship Channel Bridge got stuck upright. It’s expected to stay that way until Friday so crews can analyze the damage, said Jessica Pellerin, spokesperson for PortsToronto.
“Followup inspection on initial repairs confirmed that the main shaft of the bridge is bent, which has the potential to cause a full failure of the lifting mechanism,” Pellerin told the Star in an email.
A joint project by PortsToronto and the city to replace the bridge has been underway since March 2022. “Engineering teams expect results next week that will determine next steps for the repair/containment of damage sustained,” Pellerin said.
In the meantime, Cherry Street will continue to be closed south of Polson. Pedestrians and cars can still use Unwin Avenue to access the port and Cherry Beach.
In March 2024, the restoration project finished its first phase when the bridge’s north and south roadway spans were restored.
Phase two, Chow says, is scheduled to begin in late 2024, where crews will restore the bascule lift bridge structure and replace the mechanical and electrical lift systems. “The majority of this work is limited to the winter months when the Ship Channel Bridge is not operational. It is expected that the overall project will be completed in 2027,” Pellerin said.
In 2019, another bridge on Cherry Street just north of the Shipping Channel Bridge was also stuck in an upright position for close to a month. Although it was eventually lowered, the lift has not been functional since, according to Waterfront Toronto.