Don Valley Parkway closed this weekend for annual spring maintenance

City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following:

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News Release:  April 21, 2015                    

Don Valley Parkway closed this weekend for annual spring maintenance

The City of Toronto's Transportation Services Division will perform maintenance activities on the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) from Friday, April 24 to Sunday, April 26. Full closure of the parkway is required for safety.

The DVP will be closed in both directions between Highway 401/404 and the Gardiner Expressway from 8 p.m. on Friday to 6 a.m. on Sunday for the work. The roadway reopens early Sunday morning to help improve traffic conditions during the annual Khalsa Parade, which takes place that day on various city streets.

Specific maintenance activities that will be undertaken during the DVP closure include:

• resurfacing and patching of asphalt surfaces including crack sealing 

• in-depth bridge inspections 

• cleaning and repair of 500 catch basins, and flushing and inspection of culverts to ensure proper drainage 

• shoulder re-grading to restore drainage 

• sign maintenance for entire length of roadway 

• maintenance of 15 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras 

• inspection and repair of 73 overhead signs 

• repairs on RESCU vehicle detectors 

• guiderail repair at approximately 50 locations 

• expressway sweeping operations and debris removal 

• repair of concrete jersey barrier walls at various locations 

• inspection, repair and re-lamping of street lights, and 

• pre-engineering surveys for future work on the DVP.

Motorists can use Don Mills Road, Bayview Avenue, Victoria Park Avenue and Kingston Road as alternative routes during the closure.

In order to mitigate traffic congestion as a result of the closure, the City will be taking the following measures:

• implementing timing changes to traffic signals to enhance traffic flow on nearby routes 

• providing real-time traffic information on the City's overhead signs, and 

• co-ordinating other construction projects to avoid major work taking place along parallel routes where possible.

Motorists should allow extra time to get to and from their destination during this closure. Whenever possible, people are encouraged to consider other modes of travel, including public transit, as a convenient alternative. 

The City of Toronto will be closing the Gardiner Expressway from May 1 to 3 for similar maintenance work.

A more complete list of events and road work is available at http://www.toronto.ca/torontostreets/.

In addition, the City's T.O. INview map shows planned capital construction work taking place across the city. T.O. Inview can be accessed at http://www.toronto.ca/inview.

This work is part of the City's comprehensive and co-ordinated 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/1OCCSht

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.

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