That roar on the Lakeshore may not only be the sound of race cars zooming around the course at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy starting Friday.
It could also be the sound of drivers yelling in frustration as they make their way through traffic chaos resulting from the event due to road closures and compounded by the Gardiner construction.
Toronto Police put out an advisory earlier this week saying Honda Indy road closures began Wednesday at noon with southbound Strachan Ave. closed from Fleet St. to Lake Shore Blvd. W., followed by an 8 p.m. closure of Lake Shore Blvd. W. from Strachan Ave. to British Columbia Dr.
Both are closed until Sunday at 11 p.m.
“Motorists can expect significant delays in the area,” police said in the advisory.
The big problem is there’s already construction happening on the Gardiner Expressway, so by Thursday morning it was already gridlock as traffic coming in from the west on Lake Shore was all vying to get onto a ramp leading to the already reduced Gardiner.
“(Citizens) understand with big events such as this, there are traffic impacts – uniquely it’s coupled with Gardiner work,” Toronto City Councillor Stephen Holyday (Etobicoke Centre) said.
“My criticism of City Council would be is that there are many other things that council has done willingly, which has caused traffic congestion and taken away alternate traffic routes. When you add things like the bike lanes (on Bloor, Yonge, etc.), the King St. pilot project (no cars), you couple those with other types of closures for special events or for urgent construction, it adds up to a very difficult city to move through.”
The City of Toronto said in an email that it’s been “working with Honda Indy event organizers to create a plan for improved traffic flow to mitigate the effect of road closures that will affect travel for motorists, transit users, and pedestrians over the event weekend.”
The City referred to such things as timing adjustments and modifications to traffic signals, having traffic agents on roads, clear signage and monitoring “traffic cameras along routes around the event for any issues and incidents all weekend.”
But Keep Toronto Moving, “a volunteer-based, not-for-profit organization comprised of concerned citizens who believe there is a better way for bikes, vehicles and people to coexist within the City of Toronto,” says City Hall doesn’t have respect for either commuters or business owners in cars.
“It’s singularly only focused on bike lanes and on bandage (solutions),” Keep Toronto Moving spokesman Trevor Townshend said.
“There’s no long-term plan. There seems to be no sincere interest in alleviating the inconveniences that they’ve caused with poor planning on our major arteries. It’s clear to taxpayers the streets are not working.”
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This sentiment comes as a poll conducted by Ipsos for the Toronto Region Board of Trade (TRBT) released earlier this week said 86% of people from the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area believe there is a congestion crisis in the GTA.
Holyday agrees.
“They’ve (the TRBT) put on paper what I’ve been hearing for many years and getting worse,” the City Councillor said.
West End resident Faraz Gholizadeh – also the co-chair of Safe Parkside, the community advocacy group trying to make Parkside Dr., the gateway to High Park, a safer road – says he avoids using his car on the weekend due to snarling traffic.
And this weekend will be no different.
“We definitely don’t get in our car because we’ve experienced what it’s like with road closures and construction – it’s just not worth it,” said Gholizadeh, who advocates for more money on public transit and a connected bike network.
“We as a city have been slow to adapt. The population has been growing exponentially over the last 10 to 20 years and there’s no more room to create more roads, there’s no more room to create more lanes. So give people other options so that they don’t feel that getting in their cars is the only solution to getting around the city.”