Road 'nightmare'Gridlocked drivers slam city's 'incompetence' |
Drivers and pedestrians are used to weekend walk-a-thons, marathons and big games, but the closing of core streets and Gardiner Expressway exits yesterday during 5 major events frustrated many caught in gridlock.
"We came to Toronto for the weekend to enjoy the beautiful city, but this traffic congestion has definitely turned our trip kind of into a nightmare," Gary Gozmanian, of Detroit, said after parking on King St.
Streets shut at 5 a.m. for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, the 9:30 a.m. CIBC Run for the Cure, a Firefighters Memorial ceremony at 11:30 a.m., the Great Queen St. Psychogeographic Walk at 2 p.m., and the day-long Word on the Street festival around Queen's Park. With downtown Gardiner exits closed, motorists were also fuming trying to reach the Rogers Centre for a Blue Jays game at 1 p.m.
At King and Bay Sts. at 3 p.m., Const. Roger Mayers said. "I've been getting a lot of attitude from pedestrians and motorists, especially motorists. It's not been pleasant."
Passengers on backed-up streetcars "have been quite upset, too," he said.
At King and Victoria Sts., a motorist kicked the side of a taxi that blocked him while trying to drive north at 2:30 p.m., then retreated when the cabbie got out.
"The city has proved its incompetence once again by closing a number of roads in the city for the marathon," reader Daniel Neuhaus wrote in an e-mail last night.
Councillor Doug Holyday says he fears motorists are too often ignored as "part of the anti-car attitude of the city council ... There has to be some consideration for people getting around," he said.
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