The fencing on Pape between Riverdale and Langley was supposed to be the hard part. Metrolinx expected Pape south of Riverdale, and Langley west of Pape, to fully reopen by October 30 once final paving, signage and cleanup were done. The same notice also says Pape stays closed south of Langley because of the Gerrard Portal.
With the middle reopened, Ontario Line work on Pape has stopped spreading along the street and has settled at two ends that will stay busy until the line is built. One end is the tunnel portal at Gerrard and Carlaw. The other is the station dig at Pape and Danforth. The middle of Pape gets quieter this November, and both ends get louder.
Three years of digging, and none of it was the subway
Everything Riverdale has put up with at Pape and Riverdale so far was prep work. Moving dry utilities started in January 2023, according to a City of Toronto staff report. Metrolinx's first on-street notice for the intersection came that spring, for one-day test pits scheduled for April 10, 2023.
That City report says what the work was for: moving utilities and putting in a combined sewer and watermain before tunnelling and the portal could start. A separate storm-sewer package was planned for 2025. It ran a microtunnel from a launch shaft at the southwest corner of Pape and Riverdale to an extraction shaft near Pape and Langley, past the yard of Pape Avenue Junior Public School.
This year's closures came in lettered phases:
- Phase A, from May 25, 2026. About six days of sewer relocation. Riverdale ran eastbound only west of Pape.
- Phase B, from June 1. Road-base restoration. Riverdale closed east of Pape, and Pape south of Riverdale and Langley west of Pape closed too.
- Phase C, from June 15. Maintenance-hole and tie-in work on Langley, and removal of the old storm sewer. After that came curbs, sidewalks, landscaping and a catch basin.
- Phase D, October 23 to 26. A weekend closure of the intersection for grinding, final paving and line painting. Weather pushed it back a week from October 16.
Two caveats on that reopening. October 30 was a forecast. And Metrolinx's Phase C restoration page lists a work window that runs to November 16, so a few crews may still be around after the barricades come down. The weekend bus detour that sent the 72 Pape along Jones ended October 26, according to Transit Toronto.
The south end: a launch pit that runs into next summer
South of Langley, the closure is there for the tunnels. The site starts as the launch shaft for twin tunnels about three kilometres long under Pape. The boring machines will head north from Gerrard to Pape Station, then on to Cosburn Station and the Minton Place portal. Once tunnelling is done, the shaft gets converted into the permanent portal.
The site covers more ground than most people picture. Metrolinx's January 2025 community deck names 449 Carlaw Avenue, the former Riverdale Shopping Centre, as the portal site. It says 388 to 402 Pape Avenue and 247 Langley Avenue were also set for demolition because they were in the way of the portal and tunnels. The Toronto Star's coverage reported that the plaza's No Frills was closing and Little Caesars had already moved. It named Dollarama, Mobil, Kal Tire and Carpet Mill among the other plaza businesses expected to close.
Here's where that site stands this fall:
- Excavation started in July 2026 and is planned to take 12 months. Crews had finished the first excavation lift by September 22. Tiebacks were going in, and crews were getting ready for pressure-injected grouting.
- Work hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays.
- Sheet piles for the portal maintenance road are scheduled to go in until December 4, weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Metrolinx expects no traffic or transit disruption, but warns of noise, dust and equipment.
- The tunnel boring machines for the Pape segment are due to be delivered and assembled sometime in Metrolinx's 2026–27 fiscal year. The business plan gives no exact launch date.
A 12-month dig that started in July takes the portal to about July 2027. If the boring machines are assembled this fiscal year, the next few months are the setup for tunnelling, and the machines haven't moved under Pape yet.
Gerrard station builds right next door
The Gerrard–Carlaw station is going up beside the portal. Both are at the south edge of Riverdale, which means one corner is carrying two jobs at once. As of September 22, piling for the south headhouse was done. Substructure work was about to start at 855 Gerrard for an estimated eight to nine months, and piling for the north headhouse was still going. The schedule also listed three months of piling at 449 Carlaw starting in September, plus a week of sidewalk demolition on the east side of Carlaw in October.
The most recent lane change on Carlaw just north of Gerrard was on October 22 and 23. Metrolinx said businesses in the work area would stay open and the sidewalk would be restored at the end of each workday.
The north end: quieter streets, louder gates
At the north end of Pape, the TTC side is improving. The Pape bus loop reopened September 5. The TTC's September 6 service changes brought southbound 72 Pape buses back to the terminal. The south end of the route now runs via the Don Roadway, Lake Shore Boulevard East and Saulter Street, and ends at Commissioners Street and Don Roadway. The 100 Flemingdon Park now comes into Pape Station along Pape Avenue and stops at Lipton Avenue, Bay 2.
Underground, the station dig is getting deeper. Metrolinx's October 7 community update says Level 5 excavation has begun in both the north and south shafts and Level 4 bracing is still going. Crews are also installing saddles on top of the six caissons around the existing TTC station box, which supports the work of underpinning it.
| Pape–Danforth station work | Expected timing | What it means at street level |
|---|---|---|
| Shaft excavation and bracing | Through November 2026 | Ongoing dig in both shafts |
| Sliding-gate work at the TTC secondary entrance | November–December 2026, Mon–Sat, 7 a.m.–7 p.m. | Flagged as noisy |
| Underpinning the TTC station box | Through spring 2027 | Long-running, mostly below ground |
Metrolinx notes that these dates can change. As scheduled, though, the north end's noisiest stretch lines up with the weeks right after the middle of Pape reopens.
Who has been tracking the impact
The streets in the middle of this work include two schools. Councillor Paula Fletcher's Ward 14 update says her office met with parents and staff at Pape Avenue Junior Public School and Holy Name Catholic School. The same update noted a 72 Pape diversion via Carlaw during an earlier one-way restriction on Riverdale. Her updates are the place to watch for the next traffic plan as the portal and station work move into new phases.
What's been proposed for the portal site afterward
The pit at 449 Carlaw won't stay a pit. Infrastructure Ontario's Gerrard-Carlaw North proposal describes a mixed-use community with housing, retail, more parkland, and a new street connecting Carlaw and Pape. It also lists wide sidewalks, seating, trees and public space over the rail corridor as proposed features. The site owner's project page for 449 Carlaw says the proposal is in planning and development and envisions three buildings, with a food store returning to the site.
All of that is still a proposal. What's on the calendar is shorter-term: sheet piling at the portal until December 4, gate work at Pape station through December, underpinning into spring 2027, and the portal dig until about next July.
If you live near Pape, Langley or Carlaw and you're working out how the next year of construction fits with a sale, a renovation or just a quieter street, Jenny and Shane follow these blocks closely and can tell you what's happening at each end. Book a 15‑minute consult with Jenny & Shane.
