Official G20 security zone announced
Now that Toronto officials have unveiled downtown’s restricted areas for the impending G20 summit, there’s a clearer picture of how fun this whole mess is going to be. The good news is that the restrictions are slightly less draconian than previously speculated. The bad news is that barrier construction—and associated hassles—begin a whopping 18 days before the summit even starts.
There will only be one security fence and it will blockade the innermost security zone, enclosing the Convention Centre and stretching from Wellington to Lake Shore while progressing as far east as Bay Street and as far west as Blue Jays Way. Construction of the fence will begin on June 7 and will continue 24 hours a day until it is completed. G20 officials hope that the public will be able to move freely in and out of the fenced perimeter until the evening of June 25.
From June 25 to 27, traffic will be restricted from Yonge west to Spadina and from King south to Queen’s Quay, an area that will not be fenced off but will act as “the point where vehicle traffic will engage with the Toronto police officer,” a G20 official said at a press conference.
The CBC lists some of the more annoying closures:
• The closure of all exits to Front Street at Union Station.
• All sections of the underground PATH system will be closed.
• Heightened parking enforcement in the outer security perimeter.
Like anyone who typically picks up their dry cleaning on King West, we’re asking ourselves: how can the parking enforcement get any more “heightened”?
