Drivers planning on staying local for the long weekend may need to find a new route into the city.

The Gardiner Expressway will be closed in both directions for annual spring maintenance.

The city will be doing work between Carlaw Ave. and the Humber River from 2.a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday.

The maintenance work includes repairing the bases of light poles, fixing signs and road markings, and continuing work on the Jameson pedestrian bridge.

Peter Noehammer, the city’s director of transportation services, said it’s more efficient to combine maintenance and repairs into one weekend. Weekends are ideal because there’s not as much traffic, he said.

“We realize there’s no good time to close an important facility like the Gardiner Expressway but we have to do that for regular maintenance work to keep the road safe and the travel conditions as comfortable as possible for the motorists,” he said.

Traffic volume actually dips after the May long weekend into the summer, Noehammer said, possibly because more people leave the city on Fridays for summer trips.

Despite this weekend’s rainy weather forecast, Noehammer said the city will try to get as much work done as possible. Heavy rain, however, could disrupt some work.

Drivers can use Lake Shore Blvd. and The Queensway as alternate routes.

Aleysha Haniff and Amanda Kwan