All three westbound lanes of the Gardiner Expressway will now be open during weekday rush hours, Toronto officials said in a news release.

One lane in each direction has been closed on the Gardiner since August, as crews work to rebuild the elevated concrete and asphalt base of the highway between Strachan Avenue and Bathurst Street.

The city says that “as a result of accelerated work efforts,” three lanes will be open on the westbound side of the expressway only during morning and evening rush hours. The eastbound side of the expressway will still be down to two lanes at all times.

“Traffic congestion is strangling this city and a big part of solving that problem is getting public sector construction projects done faster,” Toronto Mayor John Tory said in a news release. “The Gardiner is a major artery of our city and getting lanes of traffic on the Gardiner open earlier will make a real difference in cutting congestion and commute times."

In September, the city’s public works committee authorized spending an extra $3.4 million on the Gardiner project, which would speed up its completion time by up to three months, meaning the route could be fully free of construction by July 2016 instead of October 2016.

One lane on each side of the highway will continue to be closed at night and on the weekends.

Sometime between Nov. 20 and mid-December, crews plan to demolish the Dunn Avenue and Dowling Avenue bridges over the rail tracks below, and replace them.