gardiner expressway construction

Toronto residents complain of sleepless nights due to Gardiner construction

The first part of the嘉丁纳高速公路箍tegic Rehabilitation, the city'sprojectto replace and repair multiple sections of the highway, began this past summer and around-the-clock work has nearby residents complaining of noise pollution and sleepless nights.

Construction on the portion betweenLower Jarvis St. and Cherry St.is currently underway in order to rehabilitate the westbound off-ramp leading to Yonge, Bay and York Streets, replace the entire concrete deck and steel girders of the Expressway in that section, and replace the westbound off-ramp at Sherbourne St. and the eastbound on-ramp at Jarvis St.

The work is controversial for multiple reasons, including the fact that many have saidit should be demolished instead of repaired.

But the main concern currently appears to be that overnight construction work is causing residents to lose sleep.

Residents have even created a hashtag to share their frustration on the matter:#sleeplessinToronto.

Many are complaining to Joe Cressy, the city councillor for the ward in which the construction is taking place.

Cressy has made his stance on the matter very clear, repeatedly stating that he does not support overnight construction.

"I regret that the City and its contractor are planning overnight work during the rehabilitation,"he said in June.

"The contractor was granted permission to work overnight in order to limit congestion on commuter routes and shorten the project duration. I do not support the overnight work and did not approve it."

Cressyhas also saidthat he'scontacted the city managermultiple times to express his concerns and "asked that further mitigation efforts be put in place immediately."

Still, action has yet to be taken and residents are complaining of getting sick due to lack of sleep, missing work and more.

Many are frustrated that overnight construction prioritizes motorists over residents, and they're saying the city should shut it down 24/7 in order to get the work done as soon as possible.

As of now, the Jarvis Street to Cherry Street Rehabilitation is set to be completed in 2021 while the entire Gardiner Expressway Rehabilitation Strategy won't be finished until at least 2027.

"I have said many times that this kind of construction activity should be limited to daytime hours because it often affects thousands of people who live nearby," stated Cressy.

"In order to ensure that our downtown communities remain liveable, we have to be careful to manage noise and ensure that people are able to sleep through the night."

Lead photo by

Vik Pahwa


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversationLoadcomments

Latest in City

It's going to feel like a scorching 38 C in Toronto this week

Here's what the region's next GO Train station will look like

Doug Ford's former secretary allegedly took a trip to Vegas with Greenbelt developer

A falling tree crushed someone's car and Toronto says it's not responsible

Canadians could get part of $78M settlement if they own some of these cars

What's open and closed on Canada Day 2023 in Toronto

Car bursts into flames on impact in wild video of head-on crash in Vaughan

Police charge 19 including guy named after Che Guevara in Toronto PIN pad theft ring