Roads: Gardiner Expressway

[andrewpmk]

"Ride for Heart" is this weekend.

After 9am GO bus service to Union Station will be completely shut down, and most GO buses will detour to either Port Credit GO or Finch GO bus terminal, except for the Hamilton buses which will end at Aldershot GO.

Expect severe traffic congestion in all areas of Toronto.

 

[LNahid2000]

"Ride for Heart" is this weekend.

After 9am GO bus service to Union Station will be completely shut down, and most GO buses will detour to either Port Credit GO or Finch GO bus terminal, except for the Hamilton buses which will end at Aldershot GO.

Expect severe traffic congestion in all areas of Toronto.

It's Sunday morning...this has never been that big of a deal traffic wise. I'm looking forward to the ride!

 

[Juan_Lennon416]

anyway, the elevated portion of the Gardiner remains for now......stop crying

 

[PinkLucy]

It's Sunday morning...this has never been that big of a deal traffic wise. I'm looking forward to the ride!

See you on the DVP

 

[muller877]

This makes no sense. If induced demand on this stretch of the Gardiner is true, then as you expand from 2 to 3 lanes, traffic congestion wouldn't decrease, it would increase. But we see the opposite.

The question for the people that believe in induced demand is why are they proposing to remove the Gardiner vs reduce the number of lanes on Lake Shore? I agree there are way too many lanes east of Jarvis. The question is which lanes should be removed/moved. I'm for keeping the Gardiner which does not impede traffic and converting Lake Shore into a 50 km/hr 4 lane road (plus turning lanes). Could even make it 2 lanes (1 each way) if there is another on/off ramp to the Gardiner. Would make it much more pleasant for cyclists and pedestrians while keeping motorists away from them.

Of course it would ruin Great Gulf's plan of using Lake Shore as an expressway to get to their development....and force them to be fully reliant on transit. So of course it's a non-starter for them and real estate firms control city hall.

 

[darth_freeman]

People usually have to travel in 2 directions, so because eastbound is 2 lanes and westbound is 3 lanes, more people have not started driving because of the bottleneck eastbound. Therefore, the westbound trip has become much faster.

Grasping at straws there...

The Gardiner probably has more reverse commuters these days as the downtown population skyrockets, lots of jobs are still outside the core. Downtown job growth is up, but not as much as population.

Check out the traffic going into the city in the PM peak - it's worse than the AM peak due to the reverse commuters.

 

[interchange42]

News Release

June 15, 2016

Gardiner Expressway to completely reopen four months ahead of schedule
after second phase of construction work

The second phase of the Gardiner Expressway rehabilitation work, from Strachan Avenue to Bathurst Street, will be completed as early as June 25 and the road will be fully reopened to traffic four months ahead of schedule.

Mayor John Tory announced last year that the expressway would open up to three months early thanks to an accelerated work schedule negotiated by the City and the contractor. It is now expected that the roadway will be fully re-opened sooner than originally anticipated, exact date dependent on weather.

“Traffic and congestion remain a top priority for Toronto residents. Just in time for the busy summer season, we are able to open the Gardiner four months ahead of schedule by extending work hours and increasing crews and equipment," said Mayor Tory. “Where the investment in speeding up a road construction project makes sense, we will find a way to make it happen because we need to get this city moving."

“The Gardiner is a critical artery in our road network in need of extensive repairs, but we can find ways speed up the work so residents and businesses can get around our city,” said Councillor Jaye Robinson (Ward 25 Don Valley West), Chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee. “We know construction costs commuters both time and money. This will help people get to work on time and get home to their families sooner.”

The final top asphalt surface of the expressway has not yet been placed so speed restrictions of 70 kilometres an hour will be in place between Bathurst Street and Strachan Avenue. The asphalt work will be completed during the full weekend closure of the expressway in the fall.

The City negotiated an accelerated schedule with the contractor to complete this work early. The $3.4-million cost associated with the acceleration was used for additional crews, materials and equipment.

Currently, the City of Toronto has estimated that the cost of construction on the Gardiner Expressway results in about $1 million a day in lost productivity for commuters using the road as a result of increased travel time tied to lane closures related to construction. While the work on the expressway is complete, construction activities under the roadway such as the coating of the steel structures, repair of the substructure (bents) and the installation of drainage systems will continue until October.

This construction project is part of the City's comprehensive, co-ordinated strategy to rehabilitate and upgrade Toronto's roads, transit and underground infrastructure for current and future needs.​

 

[ShonTron]

If only John Tory had the same enthusiasm for Vision Zero, improved pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, as he does for the Gardiner Expressway.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

If only John Tory had the same enthusiasm for Vision Zero, improved pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, as he does for the Gardiner Expressway.

Let's aim lower - what about spending more to expedite Line 1 signal replacement? Not a peep.

AoD

 

[salsa]

Let's aim lower - what about spending more to expedite Line 1 signal replacement? Not a peep.

AoD

Tory did a bunch of press conferences lamenting the 3 minute delay that the staff-recommended Gardiner teardown would have created for a few drivers. But what about the many thousands of TTC riders who are delayed every single day for far longer than 3 minutes due to subway problems and poor bus service? When are we gonna hear about how much all THAT is costing our economy?

 

[muller877]

Tory did a bunch of press conferences lamenting the 3 minute delay that the staff-recommended Gardiner teardown would have created for a few drivers. But what about the many thousands of TTC riders who are delayed every single day for far longer than 3 minutes due to subway problems and poor bus service? When are we gonna hear about how much all THAT is costing our economy?

Remember....50% of people in Toronto commute to work via automobile. 35% by transit and the rest by walking/biking. And the 50% are generally older and more likely to vote (from Stats Can).

For drivers that do not use Gardiner East they can relate to increased commuting time which will drive votes.

Plus who actually believes the staff on only 3 minutes? During rush hour on Jarvis the bike lanes added 5+ minutes, not 2. Removing Gardiner takes any slack out of the road network which means one stalled car will make a drive in horrendous.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Remember....50% of people in Toronto commute to work via automobile. 35% by transit and the rest by walking/biking. And the 50% are generally older and more likely to vote (from Stats Can).

For drivers that do not use Gardiner East they can relate to increased commuting time which will drive votes.

Plus who actually believes the staff on only 3 minutes? During rush hour on Jarvis the bike lanes added 5+ minutes, not 2. Removing Gardiner takes any slack out of the road network which means one stalled car will make a drive in horrendous.

Not to be particularly rude or anything, but taking out one lane removes the slack? Cry me a river. Try taking out one half-line of subway and you can tell me just how horrendous it is. We've all seen the march up Yonge before - and all too frequently at that. Where is the urgency around that one?

AoD

 

[salsa]

Remember....50% of people in Toronto commute to work via automobile. 35% by transit and the rest by walking/biking. And the 50% are generally older and more likely to vote (from Stats Can).

I was making a point about the misplaced priorities of this mayor when it comes to transportation policy. I don't know how the city-wide mode share is relevant to the Gardiner discussion, because the only numbers that should matter is this one.

But council decided that any increase in commute time for those drivers is unacceptable. That's fine, but at what cost? How much money are we gonna spend on a piece of car infrastructure to benefit a small percentage of commuters? How many cycling/transit initiatives will the mayor defer/refuse to fund because it's not a priority or because there is no money left over? What will be done to mitigate the impact of this blight on waterfront revitalization efforts, quality of the public realm and pedestrian environment?

Plus who actually believes the staff on only 3 minutes? During rush hour on Jarvis the bike lanes added 5+ minutes, not 2. Removing Gardiner takes any slack out of the road network which means one stalled car will make a drive in horrendous.

Please don't cherry pick. The delay quoted in the media was between 2 and 5 minutes, along with a 300% increase in cycling. City staff said that the delays were mostly attributed to the intersection at Gerrard St, where they later installed an advanced left turn phase to address this. New travel time statistics were generated after the change was made, but PWIC (chaired by Denzil Minan Wong) did not release those numbers to the public when they decided that removing the bike lane was the right thing to do.

 

[darth_freeman]

Not to be particularly rude or anything, but taking out one lane removes the slack? Cry me a river. Try taking out one half-line of subway and you can tell me just how horrendous it is. We've all seen the march up Yonge before - and all too frequently at that. Where is the urgency around that one?

AoD

You Cry ME a river! As if a 2 hour subway delay every other month compares with reducing freeway capacity by 33% for 2 years.

I was making a point about the misplaced priorities of this mayor when it comes to transportation policy. I don't know how the city-wide mode share is relevant to the Gardiner discussion, because the only numbers that should matter is this one.
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Comparing auto traffic within a single hour vs other modes will always be very misleading as autos/roads are used for much more than just commuting, at all times of the day. Compare that to subways which is heavily peak hour focused (e.g. busy two hours in morning and two hours in evening).

And most of employment is actually outside of downtown, which is poorly serviced by transit, hence the need for cars and freeways.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

You Cry ME a river! As if a 2 hour subway delay every other month compares with reducing freeway capacity by 33% for 2 years.

That's just lengthy complete shutdowns that are hours long - not to mention frequent shorter delays, slow signals for years. And how much extra was given to expedite the upgrade?

Comparing auto traffic within a single hour vs other modes will always be very misleading as autos/roads are used for much more than just commuting, at all times of the day. Compare that to subways which is heavily peak hour focused (e.g. busy two hours in morning and two hours in evening).

700K Line 1 daily ridership vs what, 140K trips on the Gardiner. Your call.

AoD