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Toronto: Construction work that has shut down all but one westbound lane along a busy stretch of Dundas Street will be completed about a month ahead of a schedule thanks to what Mayor John Tory is calling a “herculean effort” by the contractor.
All eastbound lanes and one westbound lane on Dundas Street between Yonge Street and Church Street have been closed since July 17 due to the replacement of a century-old watermain, as well as TTC track replacement work.
The closure was initially scheduled to remain in effect until Oct. 31 but the reopening date was subsequently moved up to Sept. 16. Now, city officials say that the roadway will reopen on Aug. 19, a month ahead of schedule and more than two months earlier than the initial timeline prescribed.
“Everybody pushed. I pushed, our staff pushed and a real herculean effort was made by the contractor,” Mayor Tory said of the revised timeline on Thursday. “Hours were extended for the track work, we had weekend and overnight work taking place on the underground watermain, the contractor assigned extra crews and equipment, everybody pitched in.”
Tory said that the $3.7 million cost of the project did not increase as a result of the expedited work, as it made “business sense” for the contractor to complete the job quicker and free up its crews to work on other projects.
He said that the change is representative of a “new culture” at city hall that will prioritize speeding up construction projects when possible.
Last week a stretch of Wellington Street reopened three months ahead of schedule after the city spent $280,000 to expedite watermain and TTC track replacement work.
“There is no reason that we can’t approach doing much-needed road work with a bit of sanity and common sense,” Tory said.
