City launches 'quick-clear squads' on DVP, Gardiner

After a two-month pilot project, Toronto has officially deployed dedicated workers to clear lane blockages on the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway.

Thestar.com
Nov. 6, 2017
By Emma Mcintosh

The City of Toronto launched a dedicated team Monday to clear lane blockages and collisions faster on the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway.

The "quick-clear squads" officially hit the Toronto expressways after a two-month pilot in September and October, part of a larger plan targeting the city's traffic problem.

"This is the kind of common sense approaches to traffic and congestion management that Toronto residents expect of City Hall," said Mayor John Tory in a news release Monday.

The squads are dispatched to clear temporary lane issues - like minor collisions and disabled vehicles blocking traffic - on the DVP and the Gardiner. During the pilot, two crews helped with traffic control, cleaned up debris, made repairs to reopen roads faster and assisted tow truck drivers.

While response times for such problems can take several hours, during the pilot the squads were able to arrive within half an hour, the new release said.

First responders in about 120 incidents were also able to release staff from scenes faster thanks to help from the city crews, the city said. The squads also laid 58 charges for illegal lane blocking during the pilot.

When staff aren't responding to incidents, they're monitoring the DVP and Gardiner and making maintenance repairs.