{UAH} THIS IS IMEDIATE TO THOSE IN THE GREATER AUTHORITY OF TORONTO

Friends

We are being informed as in five minutes ago, that VIA Rail service between Toronto and Ottawa, as well as Toronto and Montreal has been suspended until tomorrow due to a collision. Via Rail says a collision occurred between one of its trains and a CN freight train east of Kingston this afternoon. The train was travelling from Ottawa to Toronto with about 300 people on board. One passenger reported a minor injury. With that be informed that the ministry of transport in Ontario has just issued a statement that the Burlington skyway bridge is not going to be opened till after Monday. Let us remember that The Skyway is the only bridge to cross Lake Ontario if you are going into Niagara falls or to The States. Yes there was a driver of a truck that decided to drive through it with his bed raised and he hit it, they have to evaluate its ability to hold the kind of traffic it holds to the states and back. The closure of the sky way has happened on a weekend of Caribana where we get at minimum 2 million Americans to attend. Now we have just lost Via as well. Because the sky way is closed this long I will be very surprised if the province does not click into an emergency measure for bottom line we are bottled up and large. I have been  to Sarnia today and decided to come back through 403 Brantford, the traffic down pouring into the city of Hamilton is a crisis that needs a Federal intervention.

Embrace yourselves for the long weekend.

EM

On the 49^th Parallel    

Burlington Skyway crash: What you need to know

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Burlington Skyway crash: What you need to know

The Burlington Skyway crash yesterday has created a storm of travel questions ahead of the busy August holiday weekend.

The driver of a large truck crashed into and damaged the Skyway on Thursday, putting a cloud over Toronto-bound traffic ahead of the Civic Holiday in Ontario.

Sukhvinder Singh Rai, 34, of Brampton, Ont., was arrested at the scene and taken to the Burlington OPP detachment for breath tests. He faces one count of impaired operation of a motor vehicle and one count of blood alcohol level exceeding 80 milligrams while operating a motor vehicle.

Here's more of what you need to know about the Burlington Skyway crash and bridge closure:

What happened:

On Thursday, at 3:40 p.m. ET, a dump truck tried to travel over the bridge with its bucket raised. The bucket slammed into the bridge's overhead steel trusses and girders, causing extensive damage.

What's closed:

The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) Toronto-bound lanes are closed between Eastport Drive and North Shore Boulevard. The bridge now needs to be inspected by structural engineers, which is expected to happen Friday. The repairs, however, could take days. The closure only affects Toronto-bound traffic on the QEW. Traffic lanes heading south over the bridge and into the Niagara Region will be open, though drivers can expect it will be slow. CBC's Linda Ward reports that the OPP expects to have an update on when the bridge might reopen around suppertime.

How busy is this bridge?:

Located at the western end of Lake Ontario, the bridge is a crucial link between the Greater Toronto Area and the Niagara Peninsula, which borders upstate New York. It carries about 80,000 vehicles a day.

To make matters worse:

The August long weekend is one of the summer's busiest for highway travel. Carloads of visitors, many from the U.S., make the trip to Toronto for the Caribbean Carnival.

Alternate routes:

Drivers heading to Toronto from south of the bridge can take Eastport Drive, which runs under the Skyway bridge. Traffic was moving slowly on Eastport at 6:30 a.m. ET Friday. Another option for northbound drivers is to exit the QEW at Centennial Parkway or the Redhill Valley Parkway, and make their way through Hamilton to connect with northbound Highway 403.

GO Transit

GO Transit's Route 12, which travels from Niagara Falls, Ont., to Toronto's Union Station, continues to be delayed up to an hour Friday morning, according to the agency's most recent update. Train and bus connections are happening at Aldershot instead of Burlington. That's not the only route affected. Anne Marie Aikins, a spokeswoman for the agency, said, "We've got a number of bus delays as a result of the closure, Gardiner [Expressway] renovations and long weekend traffic."

Rush-hour traffic on Gardiner and Lakeshore are worsened by the bridge closure, too, she said. She advised commuters to bring their patience. "Long weekend is almost here!" she added.

Skyway Bridge Toronto-bound lanes closed until further notice

A closeup look at damage done by the dump truck that hit the bridge

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