Get ready for gridlock on the westbound 401

Get ready for more construction chaos, this time on the 401. It will be long term, with rehabilitation work about to begin on the westbound express lanes. The brace for impact. What can we do? The frustration is evident as westbound Four O 1 users get ready to battle the lane reductions on this heavily traveled stretch of the highway. Fantastic. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear today. I’m going to try to avoid it as much as I can. According to the MTO, lane restrictions are being mapped out over the next few nights with the full stretch of closures in place by Friday. So here’s the plan. 3 lanes will be reduced to two from approaching Ave. Road to the Allen and four lanes will be reduced to three from Allen Rd. To approaching the 400. Something Sampson is not looking forward to. It’s going to affect everybody. Even if you want to use alternative route, you know the traffic will be diverted there and it will still be a mess. This comes as drivers are already grappling with long term construction on the Gardner Expressway and other major routes in the downtown core and across the city. We’ve been having construction right across the city. Big announcement after big announcement, urban planning expert Maddie Simioticki says it’s not your imagination. Construction projects are crippling Toronto, and here’s why does this construction or infrastructure will fall apart? And part of the reason we’re needing to do all this construction in such a hurry is because we didn’t invest consistently over a long period of time and keep these assets in a state of good repair. And so we’re playing catch up and it’s starting to become frustrating. And it is frustrating. And yet we also have to recognize that it’s it’s so necessary to make sure the city keeps functioning. The construction chaos is already pushing some drivers on to public transit. Matthew tells me he wants to avoid wasting money on gas while trapped in gridlock. I think if I’m going to go down to a Jays game or any kind of concert down there this summer, I’m just going to take the go now. These lane restrictions have been in place before, you may remember, during last year’s construction season. So this is a continuation of that work, and it is expected to last until the end of 2025. But one thing that will be different this time around is that the MTO will be adding an extra lane to the collectors to help manage the volume. Near the 401 Shawna Hunt City News.