Toronto-bound Skyway to remain closed until at least Monday: OPP

(Updated)
Traffic chaos continues in and around Hamilton, as the Burlington Skyway Toronto-bound lanes remain closed, and are expected to stay that way thoughout the long weekend.

Not much has changed at the top of the Skyway, since a dump truck slammed into scaffolding in the Toronto-bound lanes Thursday afternoon.

There are a number of alternate routes to try and get around the closure. One of them is Eastport Drive to the lift bridge. The lift bridge is a federal bridge and sometimes must go up to allow ships to pass through, to access Hamilton’s port or Lake Ontario. And that’s adding to the backups at times.

The government says it’s working with the OPP and the Hamilton Port Authority to ensure continued flow of traffic, while the northbound Skyway lanes remain closed.

And another alternate route is the QEW to the Red Hill Parkway, and the Linc over to the 403. It’s quite a detour for those trying to get to Toronto this weekend. And keep in mind, tens of thousands of people are heading there for the Caribbean Carnival, concerts and a music festival.

So this closure is going to put a kink in a lot of plans. Official word from the Ministry of Transportation right now is Monday afternoon. That’s when we’ll get our next update on the extent of the damage.

The footage from yesterday just after the crash happened show the scope of the damage. The dump truck drove into the bridge with its bucket in an upright position. It hit the scaffolding that was there for a construction project. that triggered a partial collapse of the overhead bridge structure. These photographs taken by bystanders shortly after the collision give an up close view of the damage.

Not only was the dump truck damaged when it drove under. The crash also damaged a transport truck and two other vehicles. Thankfully no drivers or passengers were seriously injured.

Here you can see what’s happening at the bridge right now. It’s tough to make out but you can see some of the crew members who are working at the moment. A full team has been on the site. Structural engineers, can’t move vehicles until the Ministry of Labour approves it because it is a construction site. That is all planned for weekend according to Astrid Poei from the MTO: “The work that will be happening over the weekend will be cleanup and that cleanup includes removal of damaged temporary scaffolding, vehicles involved in the collision and removal of damaged steel. At that point we will conduct a more detailed inspection and at that time we will know what has happened and any possible repairs that need to be conducted.”