Toronto kicks off $1 billion construction season
Construction season is officially underway in Toronto.
Mayor John Tory officially launched the season on March 29 alongside Scarborough-Rouge Park councillor Jennifer McKelvie, who chairs the city’s Infrastructure and Environment Committee.
The two announced the more than $1 billion that the city plans to spend on infrastructure such as roads, bridges, expressways, TTC tracks, sewers and watermains.
“Municipal construction and the work we’re doing to improve our infrastructure will help fuel our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and keep the foundations of this city in a state of good repair, especially when the economy begins to open up,” said Tory. “As we continue the vaccine rollout in Toronto, the need to renew the city’s aging water and transportation infrastructure, which millions of residents rely on every year, is stronger than ever. We need to ensure our roads, sidewalks, bridges, expressways, watermains, TTC tracks, storm and sanitary sewers meet the needs of increased activity and can keep up with the city’s growth now and in the future.”
Amid concerns the COVID-19 pandemic had stretched the city’s budget to the point where it would have to cut back capital spending to rein in its operating deficit, the city’s announced spending plans for 2021 are over $1 billion for the second consecutive year, and nearly on par with the $1.080 billion spent on water and transportation infrastructure construction in 2020.
Included in this year’s spending package is $446 million earmarked for rehabilitating and improving transportation infrastructure. That envelope of money includes $140 million for bridges, culverts and other transportation infrastructure in the municipal right-of-way; $64 million for sidewalks and cycling infrastructure; $88 million for expressways—including the F.G. Gardiner Strategic Rehabilitation; $82 million on major roads; and $72 million on local roads.
The city says a further $616 million will be invested in water infrastructure including $240 million on watermains, transmission watermains and water services; $98 million on sewers and forcemains; $150 million on basement flooding protection; and $128 million on storm water management projects including the Don River and Central Waterfront.
In the joint announcement Tory and McKelvie both warned of inconveniences to commuters as a consequence of the work, adding that the long-term benefits of the work would be worth the short-term pain. The city is also trying to front-end load as much of the work as possible while most commuters remain at home in response to the pandemic.
“With fewer commuters travelling on our streets due to the pandemic, now is the perfect time for the city to accelerate needed road construction and repair,” said McKelvie. “These infrastructure projects will help keep Toronto working and support our economic recovery.”
Some of the major projects planned for this year include:
- King-Queen-Queensway-Roncesvalles intersection reconfiguration and infrastructure improvements;
- Queen Street West from Fennings Street to Bay Street, watermain and TTC track replacement in addition to streetscaping work;
- Broadview Avenue between Gerrard Street East and Danforth Avenue, watermain replacement;
- Lower Jarvis Street from Queens Quay East to The Esplanade, watermain and sewer replacement;
- Bathurst Street between Ranee Avenue and Lawrence Avenue West, watermain replacement and road resurfacing, in addition to geometric safety improvements on Bathurst Street at Brooke Avenue and Prince Charles Drive;
- Bloor Street West between Spadina Avenue and Avenue Road, watermain replacement;
- Twenty Ninth Street and Lake Shore Boulevard West from Twenty Fourth Street to west of Thirty Second Street, watermain replacement;
- Kingston Road from Deep Dane Drive to Centennial Road North, road and sidewalk reconstruction;
- Tapscott Road from Hydro right-of-way to McLevin Avenue, road resurfacing;
- Midland Road from Hydro right-of-way to Sheppard Avenue East, road resurfacing and watermain replacement;
- Wellington Street from Yonge Street to Church Street and Church Street between King Street East and Wellington Street; TTC track replacement, geometric safety improvements and streetscaping; and
- Weston Road from Lawrence Avenue West to Humberview Crescent, road resurfacing and construction in addition to streetscaping work.