City eyeing ways to speed up Gardiner construction

Toronto's city manager says staff are preparing a plan and considering various "promising" measures to "significantly" speed the construction on the Gardiner Expressway that has added dramatically to the city's traffic woes.

- BEN COHEN AND MAHDIS HABIBINIA

Paul Johnson told the Star this could potentially include adding more crews, providing more equipment, accelerating the production of construction materials and/or extending work hours.

"People can expect ... a significant reduction in the time of construction," he said Tuesday of the plan, which is still in the works. "But I think we need to temper expectations. This was a long project. It was spread over three years, so it's not going to be finished by the end of the summer."

City documents indicate these were all options discussed at a workshop last month with the current contractor and industry experts. Now, staff are determining their feasibility and aiming to present the plan to council at the end of July.