A Toronto bridge serving one of the city's busiest summer destinations has been shut down for emergency repairs, threatening to create traffic chaos in the Exhibition Place area for up to the next two months.

The City of Toronto's Transportation Services was forced to shut down the southbound lane of the Dufferin Street Bridge over the Metrolinx Rail Corridor at Exhibition Place this week, announcing that it will remain closed until further notice.

The closure comes just in time for the start of Exhibition Place's busiest few months, and will surely impact traffic in the area during events that will already restrict movement in the area, like the upcoming Honda Indy, running from July 14-16.

This unplanned closure comes after Engineering and Construction Services (ECS) staff were notified by Transportation Services' Road Operations of a damaged deck panel spotted on the afternoon of July 10. ECS determined during a follow-up investigation that the panel was fractured.

A site inspection was conducted by City staff on July 11, where it was determined the safest option would be to close the bridge temporarily.

The cause of the damaged panel is currently unknown and still under investigation. An inspection of the bridge carried out less than a year ago, in August 2022, did not reveal any pressing issues that could have led to the current closure.

The closure comes on the eve of the Honda Indy, and threatens to cause further chaos in the already-traffic-restricted area at what might be the worst time possible.

The two-month repair window icludes the entire span the CNE is in town, which will take over Exhibition Place starting August 18.

In the meanwhile, City staff are working on determining rehabilitation options for the bridge, and anticipate that the southbound lane of Dufferin Street (south of Springhurst) will remain closed until such a plan is worked out.