Toronto GP to minimize impact on traffic

With a month to go before the 2014 Honda Indy Toronto 2inTO weekend, construction of the race track, grandstands and hospitality suites is already underway at Exhibition Place and organizers of the event have pledged to do three things to minimize their impact on the city's traffic problems.

"We pledge to do three things to help alleviate traffic, especially along Lake Shore Boulevard where the Verizon IndyCar Series will be run on Saturday and Sunday, July 19 and 20," said Charlie Johnstone, President of the Honda Indy Toronto. "First, we will only do track work at night, long after the major traffic of the day has dissipated and Torontonians have made their way home. Second, we normally begin our work on Lake Shore Boulevard in June, but this year we won’t start until July when there is less traffic on the roads because of summer holidays. And third, we will not fully close any arteries in and around Lake Shore Boulevard while we work; there will be partial lane closures only and we guarantee that when a lane is blocked it will be for used essential track work."

Johnstone acknowledged that this approach would incur extra costs for the event organizers, but that they felt this was the right way to go.

"Indy racing has been a staple of the summer season and waterfront communities since 1986," said Johnstone. "We care deeply about the city, residents and our neighboring communities. When we learned about the scale of construction in and around the downtown core, we knew we'd want to do everything in our power to minimize our impact."

Johnstone added that fans from all over the province and the rest of the country who intended to take in the race and all of its ancillary events would do themselves a great favor if they used public transit.

Exhibition Place – site of the race – is extremely well serviced by all forms of public transit: Go Transit (Lakeshore East and West lines in train service and Niagara Falls/Toronto and Milton/Oakville in bus service), TTC Streetcar (Routes 509 and 511) and the track is only a short walk away from stops along the King and Queen Street corridors.

Track build on Lakeshore Boulevard begins on Tuesday, July 2. Two lanes on Lake Shore Boulevard, between Strachan Avenue and Ontario Drive, east and west directions, will be closed nightly until Thursday, July 17, at which time all lanes will be closed for the event weekend until 6 a.m. on Monday July, 21.