yonge eglinton

Years of construction on major Toronto street set to extend even longer with new project

Residents along Eglinton may have seen their property values go up (if they're lucky enough to own) in recent years, but it's safe to say few are finding the more than decade of construction headaches on the thoroughfare worth it.

With multiple-years-delayed work on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT still ongoing alongside numerous large-scale condo developments in various levels of progress, it will be some time before we see the street returned to its pre-2011 — when construction on the Crosstown kicked off — normalcy.

And, another potential project sure to inconvenience just about everyone in the area is now on the horizon for ever-gridlocked and traffic-cone-laden Eglinton.

City Council is considering a motion this Wednesday that would turn key portions of the roadway into a complete street with the addition of new bike lanes.

The lanes would be added in phases, starting with a section between Bicknell Avenue and Mount Pleasant Road that, if approved, would start as soon as this summer, to be followed by other intersections such as Eglinton and Allen Road.

"The purpose of this report is to seek council authority to install 8.06 centreline kilometres of new complete street features including bikeways along with the resurfacing of Eglinton Avenue," the motion reads.

"The proposed bikeways will close the gaps between the existing disconnected cycle tracks built at the frontages of nine above-ground Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit stations, and west of Bicknell Avenue and between Avenue Road and Holly Street, and provide connecting local cycling routes."

When's construction on Yonge and Eglinton going to end
byu/amoeba-sis inaskTO

Speed limits would also be reduced to 40 km/h in some areas, while curbs would be extended, traffic control signals and pedestrian head start signals added, and more.

To be fair, the motion states that the work — which will necessitate tearing up the asphalt yet again — would be timed to be "in conjunction with road resurfacing, sidewalk repair and TTC bus stop changes to prepare for the opening of the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit."

Parts of Eglinton, such as its intersection with Yonge, have already been ripped up and redone time and time again for other reasons amid work on the Eglinton subway platform below ground.

While residents celebrated the reopening of the corner earlier this year, it was once again under construction weeks later — a process that has been repeated to the frustration of many who are wondering if and when the work on various projects will ever end.

Lead photo by

A Great Capture/Flickr


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