

Sandie Benitah, CP24.com





Allen Road is scheduled to close for the entire weekend, starting tonight.

A portion of the expressway, between Lawrence Avenue and Eglinton Road, will close starting at 9 p.m. By 11 p.m., the closure will expand north to Sheppard Avenue.

Allen Road won’t reopen to traffic until 5 a.m. on Monday April 20.

City officials say the reason for the prolonged closure is because crews need to move the massive tunnel-boring machines – nicknamed Dennis and Lea – that have been tunneling the western portion of the Eglinton Crosstown.

The machines will be moved between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday and the public has been invited to watch the engineering spectacle from bleachers set up at the site. Metrolinx says hot chocolate and coffee will be available. Metrolinx personnel will also be on-hand during the day to answer questions from the public.

The city will also take the closure opportunity to conduct routine maintenance on the roadway. This includes a thorough cleaning, spot repaving, a detailed bridge inspection and bridge maintenance. Potholes will also be filled in and signs and streetlights will be inspected, cleaned and repaired. Crews will also look at repairing catch basins to ensure proper drainage.

Motorists travelling between North York and midtown are encouraged to use Bathurst or Dufferin streets instead. Though it will certainly cause congestion headaches on those roads, the city says it is taking steps to ensure traffic moves smoothly through the city’s north end.

“In order to mitigate traffic congestion as a result of the closure, the city will be taking the following measures,” officials said in a news release. “Implementing timing changes to traffic signals to enhance traffic flow on nearby routes, and co-ordinating other construction projects to avoid major work taking place along parallel routes where possible.”

Closures for Yonge Street 10K

In addition to the closure of Allen Road there are also several major road closures in effect for the Yonge Street 10K on Sunday.

The closures will be in effect from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. along the following roads:

- Yonge Street, from Broadway Avenue to King Street

- Richmond Street West, from Yonge Street to Peter Street

- Peter Street/Blue Jays Way, from Richmond Street West to Front Street West

- Front Street West, from Blue Jays Way to Bathurst Street

- Bathurst Street, from King Street West to Lake Shore Boulevard

- Fort York Boulevard, from Bathurst Street to LakeShore Boulevard

- Fleet Street, from Strachan Avenue to Fort York Boulevard

More major road closures in the works

This weekend marks the first of three weekends in a row where a major road closure is planned.

Next weekend, the Don Valley Parkway will be closed in both directions for routine maintenance. The weekend after that, from May 1 to May 3, the Gardiner Expressway will shut down for maintenance.

These closures are in addition to a number of construction projects happening around the city.

In the downtown core, Spadina Avenue is closed at College Street for TTC track repairs.

For the most up-to-date list of road closures, click here.