Gardiner gridlock has become a horror show, city has data to prove it

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The numbers back up what everyone has been feeling — the Gardiner gridlock has been a horror show.

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New data released Thursday from Geotab Intelligent Transportations Systems confirmed that travel times have skyrocketed since the construction closures began.

Trips now take up to 250% longer during morning rush hour than before the construction. Afternoon rush hour is taking 230% longer. Commercial drivers are spending 80% more time on the roads. And travel times are up 43% on the main parallel routes.

These numbers are staggering, but sadly not surprising.

For many commuters who don’t have other options, this means losing valuable time with loved ones. Literally, hours of your day disappearing and being totally drained when you finally make it home.

As a city councillor, I’ve been flooded with stories from people sharing their frustration and anger due to the lax approach to Gardiner construction.

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I’ve heard from a new mother who returned to work after maternity leave and whose commute times have doubled. She now finds herself spending an extra two hours each day stuck in traffic instead of time at home with her one-year-old.

I spoke with an owner-operator of a logistics trucking company who indicated his costs are up and margins are down, burning more fuel and losing hours to gridlock.

This is not just an inconvenience; it has a profound impact on productivity and the lives of ordinary people who need to make a living.

The only thing slower than the traffic is City Hall’s glacial response to fix this mess.

Two weeks ago, council passed my motion to take steps to accelerate the Gardiner rebuild.

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But it has been radio silence from the mayor since that council meeting. Meetings with international technical experts were promised, but has anything materialized? Meanwhile, we have GTA-based telematics firm Geotab located right next door that could provide traffic management with data, actionable insights and recommendations to boost efficiency — but the city seems content to wait.

We’re not seeing any progress or action to try to accelerate this work and fix the problems. The delays continue, the problems get worse and commuters continue to suffer.

We can’t afford to accept excuses any longer. It’s time for the city to stop promising and start acting.

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To expedite the Gardiner reconstruction, we must explore all available options. My motion called for 24/7 construction and taking a look at technologies like prefabrication, offsite assembly and other approaches that can help speed up this process.

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We should be using any and every tool we can to minimize disruptions, reduce delays and get the job done faster.

That includes looking at opening up the parallel routes that have now been completely overwhelmed with additional demand and reduced capacity.

With a mayor who has taken a hands-off approach to traffic management, Torontonians suffer while the city proceeds with lane restrictions and major construction on Lake Shore, King, Adelaide, and Queen, at the same time as the Gardiner rebuild is on. It’s making it impossible to travel east-west through the downtown core.

This is not just about the people who are stuck every day. It’s also about our economy. Congestion costs Toronto more than $11 billion every year and this only adds to it. Trucks full of goods are stuck on the highway and our economic productivity goes way down with this much time lost to commutes.

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Every day that construction delays continue, we see lost productivity, increased emissions and a decline in the overall quality of life for Torontonians.

We can’t say we don’t know about the problem. This new data makes it crystal clear and we should be using this data, AI and whatever analytics we can find to make decisive decisions and move forward with the speed and urgency this problem requires.

For too many people, it feels like the city has given up. The prevailing attitude amongst elected officials is that construction is painful and you should just hurry up and wait. I don’t accept that and I think — given the stakes for our economy and impacts on quality of life — every measure must be pursued to expedite timelines, improve co-ordination, restore road capacity and minimize downtown chaos. No more excuses and delays.

Let’s hold our city accountable, demand action and work together to accelerate the Gardiner reconstruction. Goods and services need to move — and so do you.

— Bradford is the city councillor for Ward 19 (Beaches–East York).

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