Late in September, crews were paving Danforth Avenue just east of Main Street. You could see it in the photo Beach Metro Community News ran with its September 30 story. A few blocks east, between Dawes Road and Victoria Park, eastbound Danforth has been closed since September 30. City notices say it will stay that way until December 2026.
If you live in Upper Beach, this strip is part of daily life. It's where you head for takeout, the hardware run and the Danforth GO. According to the City's construction notices, the work is split at Dawes Road, the two halves are at different stages, and the eastern block has had the roughest year.
Dawes Road is the dividing line
The City started the project in February 2026. It covers new watermains and sewers, catch basins, sidewalks, resurfacing and permanent cycling infrastructure all the way from Main to Victoria Park. The underground work finished within the first five months. What's left is all above ground. Here's where each half stood in the City's most recent notices:
| Main Street to Dawes Road | Dawes Road to Victoria Park | |
|---|---|---|
| Underground pipes and connections | Complete | Complete |
| Most recent scheduled work | Milling September 18, paving September 23 | Bike lane installation, starting September 30 |
| How traffic moves | Rolling closures on paving days, driveways open at the end of each day | One-way westbound, one lane |
| Parking | Restricted in active work zones | Not allowed in active work areas, and parked vehicles may be relocated |
| Expected finish | December 2026, project-wide | December 2026 |
One caveat about the west half: the September 17 notice scheduled the milling and paving. It doesn't confirm the work was finished on those dates. The same notice lists road resurfacing from Main all the way to Victoria Park as remaining work, along with sidewalks and bike lanes. So the stretch closer to Main is further along, but it isn't done.
During the eastbound closure, westbound traffic still runs between Victoria Park and Dawes. Coming in from Victoria Park works much like usual. Heading east from Dawes doesn't. The notices we reviewed don't list any temporary TTC stop closures or relocations. On foot, the City says accessible walkways and entrances are kept open through the work zones. The contractor tells individual properties about any driveway restrictions directly.
How October became December
The finish date has already slipped from late October to December. The City's notices, in order:
- December 17, 2025. The pre-construction notice gives an end date of October 30, 2026.
- February 2026. Construction begins.
- June 30, 2026. An update plans the Main-to-Dawes phase from July 6 to the end of August.
- September 17, 2026. The notice labels December 2026 as the "New End Date" and schedules paving between Main and Dawes.
- September 25, 2026. The City announces the eastbound closure from Dawes to Victoria Park, starting September 30 and expected to last until December.
Louis Dapergolas, coordinator of the Danforth Village BIA, told Beach Metro Community News that raising the bike lanes "has added three months to this overall project." The City's notices still say the timeline is subject to change. As of today, October 12, the project page's most recent notice is the one from September 25.
The eastern block has had fencing the longest
The east end is getting the last closure, and it was also the first block fenced off. In the same Beach Metro story, Dapergolas pointed to the stretch nearest Victoria Park:
"Between Victoria Park and Sibley Avenue it's been really bad. They had fencing up there from Day One, even though there was two or three months with no construction."
He said the BIA asked for those barricades to come down and was told removing them would be too expensive. Put that next to the September closure, and the block between Sibley and Victoria Park could go from February to December with work barriers in place for most of the year.
The BIA's survey gives you a sense of the strip-wide effect. It compared March to August 2026 with the same period in 2025, and 96 businesses between Main and Victoria Park responded. More than 98% reported lower customer and foot traffic than a year earlier. Just over 80% reported a drop of 40% or more, and 95.8% reported lower revenue. Those numbers cover the summer, before the eastbound closure started.
The City told Beach Metro it has been working with the BIA through outreach, on-site support, signage and phased construction to keep storefronts accessible and visible.
Who's on the strip behind the fencing
The Danforth Village BIA's online directory lists 383 local businesses. Toward Victoria Park, the directory includes a cluster of Bangladeshi restaurants and sweet shops that the Toronto Star once featured as some of the city's best Bangladeshi food:
- Ghoroaa Restaurant, 2994 Danforth Ave.
- Dhaka Kebab, 3040 Danforth Ave. The Star reported it opened in October 2020.
- Adi Bikrampur Sweets and Fast Food, listed at 2968 Danforth in the BIA directory. The Star feature gave the address as 3000 Danforth.
The BIA directory isn't dated, and the Star feature is a few years old. Check hours before you head out, especially while eastbound access is closed.
Closer to Main, Mr. Tasty's Drive-In at 2743 Danforth has been on the avenue for 46 years, according to Beach Metro's September reporting. The Canadian Tire at 2681 Danforth, between Main and Dawes, has been there since the 1970s. In July, the company told Beach Metro, "we continue to welcome customers at our current Danforth store."
What the finished street looks like
According to the City's final design, Danforth keeps one vehicle lane in each direction, with turn lanes at intersections. The design adds raised cycle tracks, some raised pedestrian crossings and green curb extensions with bioswales. It also adds loading areas and raised TTC platforms where buses can pull over without blocking traffic. The City told Beach Metro that business feedback led to five extra on-street parking spaces, four converted commercial loading zones and changes to curb designs.
The BIA opposed raising the bike lanes. It argued for keeping the previous design because of the effect on the timeline. The raised lanes are part of the approved design, and installing them between Dawes and Victoria Park is the work behind the current closure.
The next round of construction is already approved
When the fencing comes down, this stretch won't stay quiet for long. Toronto has approved two towers of 33 and 48 storeys on the Canadian Tire site at 2681 Danforth, with 1,050 homes and a retail podium that could bring the store back once construction wraps. Council also gave final approval to a 39-storey building at 6 Dawes Rd., and towers are going up near the Danforth GO station and next to the Main Square Community Centre. South along Main, council approved an 11-storey building at 143–147 Main St., just north of Main Street Library, with 56 homes and ground-floor retail. Its approval requires a resident and business liaison committee and safe walkways once construction starts.
The BIA has asked the City to finish by the December 2026 deadline. For now, the stretch from Dawes to Victoria Park is one-way westbound, and the City says accessible walkways and entrances stay open through the work zones.
We watch streetscape changes like this closely because they shape how a block feels day to day, and eventually how it shows to buyers. If you're near the Danforth and wondering how the new street, or the towers coming after it, could affect your plans, Jenny and Shane are happy to talk it through. Book a 15‑minute consult with Jenny & Shane.
