Toronto Lower Simcoe Ramp | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto

coopEng said:
- Jarvis is bad now as is - it is always backed up onto the Gardner (and always backs up my access point up at Ress)
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During peak, perhaps, but certainly not 'always'. When I need to get from the west end of the city south of the tracks to anywhere on the east end, my preferred route is to take Fort York or Queen's Quay to Rees, hop on the gardiner, then immediately back off to Jarvis, saving myself the lights on lakeshore at Simcoe+York+Bay+Yonge. Midday/evenings/weekends, it's usually a very fast cruise at highway speeds down most of the off-ramp until right near Jarvis; unless I arrive on a stale green, off-peak I don't remember ever having so much traffic that I waited more than 1 light cycle to get through the intersection.
 
Megaton327 said:
During peak, perhaps, but certainly not 'always'. When I need to get from the west end of the city south of the tracks to anywhere on the east end, my preferred route is to take Fort York or Queen's Quay to Rees, hop on the gardiner, then immediately back off to Jarvis, saving myself the lights on lakeshore at Simcoe+York+Bay+Yonge. Midday/evenings/weekends, it's usually a very fast cruise at highway speeds down most of the off-ramp until right near Jarvis; unless I arrive on a stale green, off-peak I don't remember ever having so much traffic that I waited more than 1 light cycle to get through the intersection.
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Well - generally speaking all of the off ramps aren't too bad off peak. I think the discussion will always focus on the AM/PM rushes where *generally* Jarvis and Spadina are backed up onto the highway usually blocking the right lane and Yonge/Bay/York is bad, but not *generally* backed up to the point that active lanes are being blocked. That being said, the stretch between Yonge/Bay/York off ramp and Jarvis off ramp heading east isnt a particularly high volume stretch - delays here are always the result of issues at Jarvis off ramp and Ress on ramp.
 
City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following:
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News Release

April 6, 2017

Eastbound ramp from Gardiner Expressway to York/Bay/Yonge Streets closed as of April 17

The ramp from the eastbound Gardiner Expressway to York, Bay and Yonge Streets will be closed permanently as of Monday, April 17 at 5 a.m. The ramp will be replaced with a shorter ramp from the eastbound Gardiner Expressway to Lower Simcoe Street that will open in January 2018.

As part of the project, Harbour Street will be widened to four lanes from Lower Simcoe Street to Bay Street to accommodate traffic and improve pedestrian and cycling access to the waterfront.

During the construction work, motorists will still have full access to downtown by exiting the eastbound Gardiner Expressway at the Jameson Avenue, Spadina Avenue and Jarvis Street ramps. In addition, motorists will be able to access eastbound Lake Shore Boulevard from the eastbound Gardiner Expressway ramp at Spadina Avenue beginning Monday, April 10.

Harbour Street will be reduced to two lanes of traffic through the construction area. From May 1 to June 15, there will be periodic daytime (9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) closures of the centre lane of Harbour Street from Lower Simcoe Street to Bay Street. These daytime closures will prevent the need for extensive overnight demolition work.

To maintain traffic flow in the area, traffic signal timing on alternative routes will be adjusted to minimize congestion and enhanced signage will be installed to advise motorists of the ongoing work. Motorists should expect delays and plan routes accordingly.

The westbound lanes of Lake Shore Boulevard and the Gardiner Expressway will not be affected by this construction.

Work on the project will take place Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Overnight work on weekends will take place to demolish portions of the structure over Lower Simcoe Street and York Street. Additional overnight work will be required over the course of the project.

This work is taking place following an environmental assessment in 2013 that recommended the reconfiguration of the ramps in the area.

More information about the ramp closure and construction plans are available in a backgrounder on the City's website at http://bit.ly/2oCtR2U.

This news release is also available on the City's website: http://ow.ly/M5JS30aDv9H
 
Do not understand why they can't make a new ramp before removing old one?
I'm predicting, there will be a new condo in couple of years and there are some beneficiaries: 1. who will build and sell the condo and 2. they who allowed to do this. It requires the investigation by journalists.
 
Bibimon said:
Do not understand why they can't make a new ramp before removing old one?
I'm predicting, there will be a new condo in couple of years and there are some beneficiaries: 1. who will build and sell the condo and 2. they who allowed to do this. It requires the investigation by journalists.
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Because the new ramp will be in the same place as a portion of the old ramp. The some of piers for the new ramp have already been built below the old ramp. This will be a major pain, but they have done a lot of work already to make this closure as short as possible. My only hope is they demolish only the portion to Lower Simcoe, build the new ramp and then continue the demotion and other reconstruction east after.
 
coopEng said:
Because the new ramp will be in the same place as a portion of the old ramp. The some of piers for the new ramp have already been built below the old ramp. This will be a major pain, but they have done a lot of work already to make this closure as short as possible. My only hope is they demolish only the portion to Lower Simcoe, build the new ramp and then continue the demotion and other reconstruction east after.
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The ramp coming off the Gardiner to York St has to be remove first to allow the new ramp to Simcoe St to be built and building the new roadway from Simcoe to York. Still got to fix Harbour east of York.

There is still a pier support to finish being built, but can't be finish until the ramp is remove. The support columns are built for it, but not the support for the ramp since the existing ramp steel is in the way.

During the removal stage, the south lane will have to be close for safety issue and will reopen once the ramp is gone. Closure will happen during work hours only.

The only place a new condo could be built is where the current parking garage is that is 8 floors today. You need that garage to service the Waterfront, events at the Roger Centre, residents who needs an extra parking spot. There is a car on the 7th level that been park they for close to 10 years with out dated plates and cover in dirt.
 
I think you may have missed my point - the main portion of the existing ramp that interferes with the new final configuration is everything to the west of Lower Simcoe and the first few sections to the east. What does removing the remainder of the ramp have to do with the new off ramp? Only thing that changes is the widening of Harbour Street and streetscape improvements.
 
coopEng said:
I think you may have missed my point - the main portion of the existing ramp that interferes with the new final configuration is everything to the west of Lower Simcoe and the first few sections to the east. What does removing the remainder of the ramp have to do with the new off ramp? Only thing that changes is the widening of Harbour Street and streetscape improvements.
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Very simple, how do yo drive east coming off that new ramp if there is no lanes for it?

Also, why do you stop demo after you remove the steel from the Gardiner to the east side of Simcoe?? You realizes that the existing ramp east of Simcoe is in the way of building the new lanes, let alone new sidewalks, bike trail, landscaping and the new park. It cost money to do what you want and not in the city budget.
 
drum118 said:
Very simple, how do yo drive east coming off that new ramp if there is no lanes for it?

Also, why do you stop demo after you remove the steel from the Gardiner to the east side of Simcoe?? You realizes that the existing ramp east of Simcoe is in the way of building the new lanes, let alone new sidewalks, bike trail, landscaping and the new park. It cost money to do what you want and not in the city budget.
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The major issue is not the finished product, you can shoehorn people onto Lake Shore just east of Simcoe, the issue is keeping the ramp closed for 8 months. We would stop demo there to speed up the important part of the project. I'm sure we will all be happy stuck on the Gardiner knowing that the new ramp isnt open because we haven't finished adding the trees to the park at York and Harbour. Everything costs money - how much do you think the additional delays and traffic will cost?
 
bilked said:
A shockingly stupid and misinformed analysis by the Toronto Star's "Wheels" section: http://www.wheels.ca/news/york-bay-yonge-ramp-demolition/

Not sure how the Toronto Star still runs this rag.
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Loved this:

Construction will be restricted to 7 a.m. till 7 p.m., so as not to disturb the residents of condominiums in the area. So tens of thousands of commuters, who keep the economy of the city of Toronto — particularly the downtown — humming along will be inconvenienced yet again so that a couple of thousand condo dwellers can get their sleep.

Now, those folks either bought or are renting those condos so they can live right downtown where the action is — action being noise and bright lights.
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Yup, it's common knowledge that literally the only reason anybody has ever chosen to live downtown is so that they can have construction noise prevent them from sleeping at night. I haven't ever heard of anybody living downtown for any reason other than wanting to stop sleeping.
 
April 09
Couldn't find the camera attachment to the tripod, and couldn't shoot my final trips on the ramp out of the roof as plan.

Because the camera wasn't anchor, it went for a slide as I used the York Ramp. Can see some of the construction around the Gardiner, but not great views.
 
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