Lake Shore Boulevard road closures add to traffic woes

Beginning today you can add another road closure to your list of GTA traffic woes.

As commuters try and cope with the ongoing lanes closures on the Gardiner Expressway, theyll now have to deal with recurrent lane closures on Lake Shore Boulevard until at least July.

• Toronto's major 2014 road projects

For many motorists, taking Lake Shore Boulevard was the alternate route after the Gardiner was reduced from three lanes to two in April for road work.

The closures on Lake Shore will affect three westbound lanes:

• Yonge Street to west of Rees Street.
• Bathurst Street to British Columbia Road.
• Parkside Drive to Windermere Avenue.

It will also affect an eastbound lanebetween British Columbia Road and Lower Spadina.

Crews will be performing utility work before resurfacing as part of the preparation for the Pan Am Games next year.

Steve Buckley, the citys general manager for Transportation Services, said there was simply no choice.

"In many cases our power linesgas lines are underground so when they need to be improved you need to cut right into the roadway, Buckley said.

However, Buckley reassureddrivers that while the Gardiner lane closures have been consistent, the closures on Lake Shore will be intermittent and occur from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.