Starting today, Friday, January 13 at 9:30 a.m. the City of Toronto is closing

• the northbound high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane on William R. Allen Road north of Sheppard Avenue West.

City and TTC contractors are working on the next phase of the project to extend the 1 Yonge - University - Spadina subway beyond Downsview Station to York University and Vaughan. Starting today, they’re opening u a new construction site on the northeast corner of Sheppard Avenue West and Allen Road, extendign about 464 metres northward along Allen. They’re starting to build an extraction shaft for the tunnel-boring machines (TBMs), blocking the HOV lane from north of Sheppard Avenue West to north of DeBoers Drive. The City will reopen the lane in the spring.

Construction crews are preparing a large shaft for two TBMs “Holey and Moley”. This month they’ll be drilling and excavating the shaft.

The City of Toronto has amended its noise by-law to allow the contractor to work overnight and weekends, if necessary, to reduce disruptions to traffic and the neighbourhood. Ordinarily, however, the work proceeds Mondays to Fridays only from about 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Construction crews will not be working statutory holidays.

The work may temporarily delay northbound motorists on Allen Road. Passengers traveling on TTC buses operating along the 104 Faywood, 105 Dufferin North, 117 Alness and 196 York University rocket routes should expect detours and delays seven days a week. The work may also affect GO Transit buses operating along the 47G Hamilton / York U route Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, when the buses operate to and from Yorkdale GO Bus Terminal.