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Toronto has scheduled major road closures this weekend in order to perform maintenance work ahead of the FIFA World Cup matches set for next month.
The Don Valley Parkway will be completely closed from Highway 401 to the Jarvis Street ramp on the Gardiner Expressway from 11 p.m. on Friday, May 8 until 5 a.m. on Monday, May 11.
The city said the closure over the entirety of the weekend allows for multiple divisions and partners to complete work at the same time. It says crews will complete work that’s equivalent to 30 overnight lane closures over the two days.
Andrew Posluns, the city’s chief congestion officer, said while the closure may not be ideal, it’s crucial the work gets done. It’s vital to reduce any chance of flooding or other infrastructure issues during the World Cup, he said.
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“This weekend was carefully selected to avoid concurrent closures,” he said. “We will have a number of mitigation efforts in place, including traffic agents.”
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Posluns said he encourages people to plan ahead for the weekend and to take public transit if possible.
Toronto had originally planned to complete the required maintenance last fall. But the Blue Jays’ World Series run ended up throwing a wrench in the city’s timeline.
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The work was subsequently shifted into November 2025. But an early snowfall ended up sidelining those plans again. City officials again pushed the work to April. That ended up having to be cancelled due to wet weather.
This coming weekend avoids the road closures from last week’s Toronto Marathon. However, Sunday is the Sporting Life 10K, which will come with some road closures.
There will be some relief as GO Transit is shoring up its services. On the weekend, GO Trains will run every 15 minutes on the Lakeshore West and East lines between 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. About 40,000 fans will need transit support to attend Saturday’s match between Toronto FC and Inter Miami CF at BMO Field.
Posluns said he encourages anyone who is choosing to drive downtown this weekend to allow for extra time due to the closures.
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