Traffic mayhem on menu in Toronto this weekend

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Summer doesn’t officially kick off for a few more weeks, but traffic turmoil in Toronto will be off and running chaotically this weekend.

The city’s two main arteries for vehicle traffic coming in and out of the downtown core — the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway — will be closed from midnight to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Cyclists in the city will be golden, including the 10,000 or so taking over those roads for the Baycrest Bike for Brain Health, the reason for the closures.

Drivers? Not so much.

The DVP will be shut down to vehicles from the Gardiner to York Mills Rd., and the Gardiner is a no-go from South Kingsway to the DVP.

Roads surrounding Exhibition Place will also be closed for the event.

What about public transportation, you ask? Don’t hold your breath on that being simple to navigate either. There won’t be any TTC service on Saturday and Sunday on the portion of Line 1 Yonge-University between St. Clair and Sheppard-Yonge stations due to scheduled track work, including the installation of a new rail switch at York Mills Station along with station improvements and new accessible features at Lawrence Station, which will be closed.

Shuttle buses will operate.

“While the TTC does most subway maintenance at the conclusion of service each night, it continues to require weekend and early weeknight closures to complete critical infrastructure and state-of-good-repair work,” the TTC said in announcing the closures.

Sections along Line 1 and Line 2 Bloor-Danforth will also feature reduced speed zones as a “safety precaution,” which could mean longer-than-normal travel times in some instances.

The traffic mess coincides with a three-game series between the Blue Jays and Pittsburgh Pirates down at the downtown Rogers Centre. The Jays on Friday night were set to debut the team’s new City Connect uniforms. When it comes to transportation in and around the city, this weekend might feel more like City Disconnect.

Colombian singer Feid brings his FerxxoCalipsis Tour to down-the-street Scotiabank Arena on Sunday, which won’t reduce traffic.

Many commuters on the Gardiner will have become used to the patience test, as a 700-metre stretch between Strachan Ave. and Dufferin St. is undergoing the second of six phases of rehabilitation work on the aging expressway. That part of the elevated bridge is being replaced (and supporting structures fixed) in a huge undertaking that will take three years to complete and affect some 200,000 cars daily.

Reducing that stretch of road to two lanes each way cuts that capacity of that section by 30% while nearby routes such as King St. W. between Dufferin and Shaw Sts. are also closed until November.

The Dufferin-to-Strachan stretch will fully open in May 2026 for three months when Toronto hosts the FIFA World Cup, then close again in August. Completion is slated for mid-2027.

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The Lake Shore Blvd. eastbound on-ramp east of Jameson Ave. is also closed during the construction.

Earlier this month, City Council approved a motion aimed at speeding up construction work on the Gardiner.

The motion asks city transportation staff to report back in July with a plan to speed up work on the expressway and minimize traffic and congestion impacts.

Staff will investigate the feasibility of 24/7 construction, including work on Sunday. Upcoming road work and other state-of-good repair projects along corridors adjacent to the highway will also be evaluated.

The motion also includes the creation of a work group to look into the issue.