The aging Cherry Street bridge is locked in an upright position and is expected to remain so for at least “a few days” after it sustained hardware damage on Wednesday, PortsToronto said in a release.
PortsToronto says work to fix the 92-year-old Ship Channel Bridge is underway but no definitive timeline for its repair has been given.
“It is expected that this work will take a few days and regular updates will be provided,” it said, adding that inspectors will be on site on Thursday.
As a result, Cherry Street is closed to all traffic south of Polson Street.
“Members of the public and all Port users can still use Unwin Avenue (base of Leslie Street) to access the Port and Cherry Beach,” PortsToronto advised.
It’s not the first time the bridge has been stuck in its upright position, causing traffic woes.
Back in the summer of 2019, it remained erect for several weeks when gears and bearings broke inside the mechanisms that allow the bridge to be raised and lowered.
Those repairs were tagged in excess of $300,000.
No dollar amount for the current repairs that are underway has been revealed.
A joint project by PortsToronto and the City of Toronto has been underway since March 2022 to restore the bridge.
