A stretch of Finch Avenue that was wiped out by heavy rains last August will re-open to traffic by the weekend.

In less than three hours on Aug. 19, 2005 a storm dumped 153 millimetres of rain on Toronto. The rush of water washed away part of the roadway between Sentinel Road and Tobermory Drive.

Work to repair the damage and replace the road began soon after. However, it left portions of Finch Avenue disconnected from each other, disrupting traffic.

City works department staff confirmed for CTV News that one lane of Finch will be open for traffic by Friday or Saturday. They expect to have two lanes open by next week. All four lanes will open in the spring of this year.

Originally, the city hoped to have traffic moving again by the end of December 2005. However, that was delayed by bad weather.

The final cost for the street repair is expected to be approximately $4.5 million.