Proposed weekend road closures for Toronto this spring

City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following:

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News Release:  March 9, 2015

Proposed weekend road closures for Toronto this spring

The City of Toronto has confirmed the schedule of weekend road closures for its expressways during the spring season.

The list of weekend road closures includes:

• Allen Road, from Sheppard Avenue to Eglinton Avenue, will be closed from Friday, April 17 at 11 p.m. to Monday, April 20 at 5 a.m. for spring maintenance work. (Alternative date:  May 8-11)

• The Don Valley Parkway, from the Gardiner Expressway to Highway 401, will be closed from Friday, April 24 at 8 p.m. to Sunday, April 26 at 6 a.m. for spring maintenance activities.  The roadway will reopen early on Sunday, April 26 to help improve traffic conditions during the Khalsa Parade which takes place on various city streets. (Alternative date:  May 29-June 1, however the roadway would be made available for the Ride for Heart event).

• The Gardiner Expressway, from Carlaw Avenue to Highway 427, will be closed from Friday, May 1 at 8 p.m. to Sunday, May 3 at 6 a.m. for spring maintenance activities.  The roadway will reopen early to help improve traffic conditions during the Toronto Marathon which takes place between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. that weekend on various city streets.  (Alternative date: May 15-18, opening for Victoria Day).

• The Gardiner Expressway will be closed from Carlaw Avenue to Highway 427 and the Don Valley Parkway will be closed from Highway 401 to the Gardiner Expressway on Sunday, May 31 from 2 a.m. to 2 p.m. to accommodate the Ride for Heart event.

"Over the last three months, the Road Closures Coordination Committee has been working hard to coordinate roadwork, events and TTC track work in a way that makes sense and results in the least amount of impact on traffic. We are providing the confirmed road closures information as soon as possible so that Toronto residents know which weekends will be impacted by road closures and plan accordingly so we can all still move around this city," said Mayor John Tory.  "The maintenance work that is planned is critical to maintain our network of expressways in a state of good repair."

Closing the roads at 8 p.m. on Fridays allows the City to complete the necessary road work in cases where the road is scheduled to reopen during the weekend.

This work is part of the City's comprehensive and coordinated strategy to rehabilitate and upgrade Toronto's roads, transit and underground infrastructure for current and future needs.

This news release is also available on the City's website: http://bit.ly/1GyNj64

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to be the Host City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.

Media contact: Steve Johnston, Strategic Communications, 416-392-4391, sjohnsto@toronto.ca