The Gardiner Expressway is loaded with traffic today but a report from an independent Toronto engineering firm, IBI, says the old elevated highway is a menace, especially to those underneath it. The Gardiner is full of deteriorating concrete that presents a “significant hazard to public safety.” More than that, it contradicts the much more optimistic assessment made by the City’s engineering department. The IBI survey finds the underside of the expressway has sizable cracks, spalls (pieces that have detached from a larger mass), problematic patches, and/or splitting in six areas where the city found “no signs of surface deterioration.” The report also warns that it is possible for concrete to fall off in the future no matter what precautions are taken. Guess we’ll be taking side streets.
