Driving in virtually any Toronto neighbourhood can be a nightmare, thanks to the endless construction projects currently in progress, including the forthcoming Ontario Line, delay-plagued Eglinton Crosstown LRT, and the Gardiner Expressway Rehabilitation Plan. 

However, things have been particularly brutal for a community at the epicentre of multiple construction projects, which largely relies on one street to connect to major roads and other parts of the city. 

Over the past few weeks, East Liberty Street in Liberty Village has witnessed bumper-to-bumper traffic, especially before and after congested events at Budweiser Stage and BMO Field. 

Normally, much of the neighbourhood's traffic is diverted onto nearby roads, which has been made even more difficult with the City and TTC's work to renew aging streetcar tracks along King Street West between Dufferin Street and Shaw Street. 

Currently, the City is replacing the track on King Street West and closing it to all vehicles between Atlantic Avenue and Sudbury Street, which sits directly above Liberty Village and re-routes much of the traffic on King Street into the neighbourhood. 

Photos of the standstill traffic on East Liberty Street over the weekend sparked discussions among local residents about how traffic can better be managed in the neighbourhood. 

To make matters worse, the City is currently working on a multi-year rehabilitation of the Gardiner Expressway to keep it operational for the future, with the effects of weathering, salt, and increasing traffic loads pushing it to the end of its original design life.

The construction of Gardiner Section 2 — which stretches from Strachan Avenue to Dufferin Street — is expected to be completed in mid-2027. The Expressway will be reduced to two lanes in each direction during the project, with additional lane reductions as required. 

On top of all that, the eastbound on-ramp to the Expressway from  Lake Shore Boulevard east of Jameson Avenue will also be closed during construction to help mitigate traffic merging and congestion approaching the work zone.

With the overlapping of the construction projects, multiple Liberty Village residents have taken to a local Facebook community group to share their frustrations with the neighbourhood's standstill traffic.

"We had to drive out somewhere last night at 9:30 and it took us 45 minutes to get to Lake Shore. It was bad," one person wrote under a post highlighting the traffic on East Liberty Street. 

"It's like they filled up the space with buildings and people then forgot about us," one resident noted. Over the past few years, more and more condos have been popping up in the neighbourhood, including a 39-storey rental tower at 45 Strachan Ave. that's currently under construction. 

"The foundation of the design of one main road in Liberty Village is the problem coupled with the absurd amount of condos. I can't understand how City officials, and planners have allowed this to happen," another comment reads. 

However, others expressed that choosing to live downtown means coming to terms with the fact that there will always be traffic. 

"If you live in Liberty it's because you love being able to walk everywhere," one resident said. "If you don't, you should know better than to drive through Liberty."