Yonge Street Rerouting UPDATE

NY34.6 - Metrolinx Yonge North Subway Extension - Long-Term Temporary Road Closures, Time Extension of the Temporary Delegation of Authority

This week, North York Community Council approved the next phase of the Yonge North Subway Extension project, authorizing a series of long-term temporary road closures and traffic changes required to reroute Yonge Street across the Centrepoint Mall parking lot to construct the future Steeles Station. The Yonge North Subway Extension will add five new subway stations to the existing Toronto Subway Line 1, extending the line approximately 8 kilometres north from Finch Station into Richmond Hill. 

It is important to note that Metrolinx is a provincial agency responsible for planning, delivering, and overseeing the Yonge North Subway Extension. While the City of Toronto reviews and approves matters within its municipal jurisdiction, including road closures and traffic management, the project itself is directed and managed by the Province of Ontario through Metrolinx. My role is to advocate on behalf of Willowdale residents and businesses by ensuring that appropriate mitigation measures, community consultation, and accountability are built into the project as it moves forward. 

Construction of the station will require excavating a large underground station box beneath Yonge Street. As a result, beginning in 2027, traffic lanes, sidewalks, and turning movements along Yonge Street and Steeles Avenue will be reconfigured in stages. In 2028, Yonge Street between Steeles Avenue and Madawaska Avenue will be fully closed to vehicles and traffic will be diverted onto a newly constructed temporary roadway west of the existing street. These changes are expected to remain in place until 2030 while construction of the station is completed.

The Yonge North Subway Extension is a transformative investment that will improve transit connectivity for our community and the broader region. However, I also recognize that several years of construction will bring significant challenges for local businesses, residents, commuters, pedestrians, and neighbourhood streets.

Here are my key concerns:

• Significant traffic impact is expected as the temporary stretch of Yonge Street will only be 4 lanes + turning lane compared to north and south of the area, which are 6 lanes + turning lane.

• Significant impact on local businesses, especially those losing frontage on Yonge Street

• Transparency, accessibility and accountability of Metrolinx during this construction process.

For these reasons, I introduced a package of amendments that were adopted by North York Community Council:

My amendments request that Metrolinx:

• Review the Traffic Management Plan and optimize the design of the temporary Yonge Street diversion road to minimize congestion and neighbourhood traffic infiltration.

• Continue working with the City, Centrepoint Mall, and my office to improve vehicle access to Centrepoint Mall, including reviewing additional left turn opportunities from Yonge Street and Steeles Avenue.

• Complete a transportation impact study assessing the proposed road configuration and identifying additional mitigation measures.

• Consider widening the temporary diversion road to six lanes, including a dedicated turning lane, to reduce traffic bottlenecks during construction.

• Consult directly with affected businesses along the east side of Yonge Street to develop additional business support and mitigation measures.

• Explore financial assistance or compensation measures for businesses that experience demonstrated economic impacts during construction.

• Develop an enhanced business visibility and wayfinding strategy with attractive construction hoarding, directional signage, business information, and promotional materials to help customers continue supporting local businesses.

• Maintain safe, accessible, and attractive pedestrian routes, sidewalks, street furniture, and customer access throughout construction.

• If a Business Improvement Area is established, consider covering BIA levies for businesses that lose their Yonge Street frontage during construction.

• Provide multilingual communications and outreach in English, Korean, Chinese, and Farsi so businesses and residents receive timely and accessible information.

• Coordinate construction schedules with the City's Transform Yonge project wherever possible to minimize overlapping traffic disruptions.

• Provide advance written notice of upcoming construction activities, traffic changes, and mitigation measures to businesses, property owners, community organizations, and stakeholders.

• Clearly define contractor responsibilities for construction runoff, cleanliness, pest control, lighting, parking management, and other Good Neighbour practices.

• Develop a marketing and communications campaign encouraging customers to continue supporting local businesses throughout construction.

• Conduct regular site inspections to ensure contractors comply with required mitigation measures and respond promptly to community concerns.

• Designate a dedicated Metrolinx contact to respond quickly to urgent issues raised by businesses and residents.

• Establish a Construction Liaison Committee, including representation from my office, affected businesses, residents, and community organizations, with multilingual meetings and interpretation services to identify issues early and facilitate ongoing collaboration throughout construction.

In addition, Community Council directed City staff and Metrolinx to report back to North York Community Council in the second quarter of 2027 with an update on the implementation of these measures before major construction begins.

Why the mega-long amendment?

While I have no authority to direct Metrolinx, this motion is a formal request to bring visibility to some of the issues we need to advocate for to achieve the best outcome during what will be a challenging construction period. I think many who live near Yonge/Eglington have some level of trauma from the many years of disruption that happened.

I hope we do not end up inspiring a meme like this one:

There are also many questions about Line 1 capacity once this extension happens. protecting local businesses, maintaining accessibility, minimizing traffic disruption wherever possible, and keeping our community informed at every step.