The future of the crumbling Gardiner Expressway may remain unclear but one thing is certain: short-term repairs to downtown Toronto’s main commuter artery can’t wait.

There are currently eight projects underway along the 18-kilometre highway: more than $100 million worth of fixes from repairing off-ramps and medians to replacing of 800 metres of actual elevated roadway.

These are not scheduled for completion until late 2015. In the meantime, city engineers are working with traffic experts to ease the pain for drivers by staggering lane closures, limiting construction on surrounding roads and modifying traffic signals on streets in the vicinity of the Gardiner in the event of a backup.

“Obviously, where the city is at right now, traffic and congestion are huge issues, and we have to be very cognizant about how we minimize congestion,” said Stephen Buckley, general manager of transportation services.

But no matter the outcome of an environmental assessment now underway, drivers are seeing just the beginning of years of orange pylons, lane closures and added congestion.

Drivers have already experienced disruptions on Lake Shore Blvd. E., where crews are nearly finished repairing the concrete box girders that hold up the deck of the expressway from York St. to Lower Jarvis St.

Interim repairs to the eastern end of the Gardiner, expected to be completed by late December on the eastbound side, will resume next spring on the westbound side, resulting in another round of lane closures.

Beginning in December, workers will begin replacing the median separating the eastbound lanes from the westbound lanes from Dufferin Ave. to Ellis Ave. Until that wraps up next May, one westbound lane will be closed during the morning rush hour, and lane sizes will be reduced during the afternoon rush hour. Traffic may be reduced to two lanes in each direction overnight.

The replacement of 800 metres of deck from Strachan Ave. to Spadina Ave., by far the most significant project planned to date, will be carried out in two 400-metre phases. Apart from a break for the Pan-Am Games, traffic will be reduced by one lane in each direction along the busy western stretch from early next year until the end of 2015.

Meanwhile, from April to December 2014, three bridges in the western portion of the Gardiner will be refurbished, closing a lane in each direction at those locations.

Buckley predicts slowdowns resulting from these projects will persuade many drivers to switch to public transit or stagger their work hours so as to avoid rush-hour.

His advice to those with no other option but to brave the Gardiner: “Be patient.”

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