If you’re going to be heading into the south side of the Port Lands over the next few days, you’re going to have to adjust your route…again.
For the past few months, Unwin Avenue has been the sole route into and out of the southern Port Lands after the Cherry Street Ship Channel Bridge was closed for emergency repairs.
But the road is set to be closed for 4 days this week while crews work on the Unwin Avenue Bridge.
Unwin Avenue will be shut down west of Leslie at the bridge, from Thursday July 25th until Sunday July 28. According to the city, the deck panels are being replaced either end of the bridge, along with bolt tightening and waterproofing.
To account for this, the Ship Channel Bridge on Cherry will be lowered so traffic can use it. Unfortunately only one direction of traffic is going to be able to pass at a time – which will mean long line ups at the bridge.
If you plan on heading down to Cherry Beach or anywhere else nearby, it will be better to walk or cycle – both Unwin and Cherry will be open for pedestrian and bike traffic.
The closure of the Ship Channel Bridge has been a pain for everyone trying to access this area of the Port Lands since April, when it got locked in an upright position. Once it was lowered, critical issues with the bridge were identified. It was originally only supposed to be closed for a few weeks, but those weeks have turned into months. The repairs are now in the final phase, and Ports Toronto expects the bridge to be fully operational by August 26th.
This isn’t the first time the bridge has been lowered so traffic can cross. Ports Toronto says they are “committed to identifying all opportunities to safely and periodically open the bridge to vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic”
You can see the current status of the bridge on their website : https://www.portstoronto.com/portstoronto/media-room/community-notices/ship-channel-bridge-critical-repair.aspx