simcoe street toronto

Drivers forced to wade cars through flooded Toronto street

The images may not be as dramatic as those that emerged (er, submerged?) after the 2013 flood, but one Toronto street has a flooding problem.

For the last week Lower Simcoe street has been flooded, forcing drivers to wade their cars through a small lake of water to get to the other side.

A post shared by Emmerich (@romeoalphadelta) on

The city closed one of the lanes and put up hazard markers to warn drivers but they left one lane open to pass through what is a major commuter route between downtown Toronto and the Gardiner Expressway.

Tonight a big chunk of the street just closed so that the city could try to better address the situation. According to Toronto Water, they plan to install additional sewer piping to help alleviate the current flooding issues.

One lane should be open in each direction by rush hour tomorrow evening.

As CBC reports, this part of the street was built to withstand Lake Ontario's five-year average water levels in 2006.

A post shared by Jessica Korody (@korodyj) on

Since the street opened in 2009, water levels have gone up substantially. The surrounding area has also seen a lot of development, which exacerbates the problem.

According to CBC, the city's been manually pumping out water on Lower Simcoe for the past two weeks.

When Lower Simcoe flooded last year (it flooded at least five times between 2010 and 2013 too), Mayor John Tory announced the city would address the issue. Now, it's apparently looking into building a pumping station at the underpass.

The nearby HTO Park has also seen some minor flooding over the past few days. And two weeks ago on the other side of the city Ashbridges Bay Beach was flooded after a storm.

Lead photo by

andrewtheturle


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in City

Canada is seeing one of the worst standard-of-living declines in 40 years

Tributes pour in after death of Toronto City Councillor Jaye Robinson

It's going to get way easier to pay transit fare in Toronto with your phone

TTC literally just gave CEO Rick Leary an award days after chaotic subway shutdown

An aggressively spreading invasive species is completely taking over a Toronto park

50 tourist attractions in downtown Toronto you need to visit at least once

Stunning new lookout point overlooking Toronto wetland opens this summer

Stunning new Toronto transit station will link several TTC and GO lines