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Dereck Revington Studio designed the safety barrier聽鈥� installed more than two decades ago 鈥� and the lighting system, turning the bridge, also called the Prince Edward Viaduct, into one of Toronto’s most recognizable landmarks. The city鈥檚 report calls the lighting 鈥渁 groundbreaking artistic composition of moving coloured light, which would respond in real-time to the climate and atmosphere moving around and across the bridge.鈥�

Both the Veil and the lighting effects have won architectural and design awards.

But the report says the artwork has deteriorated over the years, because of harsh environmental conditions and maintenance gaps, resulting in the lighting system not working.

“It鈥檚 a beautiful beacon when you鈥檙e driving up the Don Valley,” said local councillor Paula Fletcher. “But so many of the lights are out it’s lost its charm.”

Immediate repairs to get the lights working by June 2026 in time for Toronto’s hosting of the FIFA World Cup and maintenance for at least for the next five years after that are pegged between $300,000 and $450,000, an amount Fletcher called “reasonable.” The money for these fixes has been set aside in this year’s budget.

“The lighting infrastructure of the Luminous Veil is highly specialized; many of its custom components are produced by only a handful of manufacturers. This has led to delays in sourcing replacement parts in the past,” the report said.

The short-term maintenance聽plan will include regular inspections, remote monitoring, emergency response and a “defined list of readily available spare parts” to shorten replacement turnaround time, the report said.

鈥淭he lighting is solely a decorative feature and has no bearing on the effectiveness of the barrier itself,鈥� according to the report.

In the report, city staff said they will consider completely replacing the lighting system聽after the immediate repairs, once they have consulted technical experts, “to聽ensure long-term sustainability, improve reliability and monitoring, and restore artistic intent.”

Renewing the Luminous Veil’s lights system in a “larger-scale revitalization” to extend the system’s shelf life by at least 15 years, would cost between聽$1.9 million and $2.3 million in new money in the city’s capital budget, according to staff.

“Planned features to support maintenance, including a remote monitoring system, were never implemented due to technological constraints at the time of installation,” the report said. “These maintenance gaps have contributed to deterioration, leaving the system without preventive servicing or structured diagnostics.”

When the lighting system was installed, it also didn’t have a mechanism included to report malfunctions, nor a way for the city to get alerted when there was an outage. According to the city report, that will all be part of its renewal plans, but it’s unclear what the response times will be.

Other upgrades, such as to cabling and connectors, are intended to mitigate the damage caused by exposure to the environment, the report said.

When asked about the larger price tag for a full overhaul, Fletcher said: 鈥淟et’s start with the small repairs, make sure that happens and then assess it.”