Weekend need to know: Halloween events; road closures and GO updates

Halloween weekend is finally here and after a month full of scary events there’s more family and pet-friendly activities for everyone to attend.

Luckily, we have another weekend of no scheduled TTC subway closures, but more construction is causing additional road closures in the city. Scroll below for those details.

Have a happy and safe Halloween.

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Top events

St. Joseph’s Toronto West Halloween Fest

Part of Sherway Gardens mall will transform into a Halloween celebration as St. Joseph’s Health Centre hosts its annual Toronto West Halloween Fest on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The event will include a costume parade and trick-or-treat trail, a Halloween magic show and spooky storytelling.

The event is free, but people are encouraged to make a donation to St. Joseph’s Health Centre.

Riverside Common Sundays: Halloween Mini-Fest

Halloween Mini-Fest is coming to Riverside Common Park from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Sunday.

Attendees, including pets, are encouraged to show up to the event in costume.

The free event will include a pumpkin patch, games, treats and hot drinks, a photo booth, face painting, and more.

Heddington Halloween in support of SickKids

The annual Heddington Halloween display, organized by Toronto’s Barb Gordon, showcases life sized paintings of beloved icons alongside pumpkins and other Halloween displays up and down Heddington Avenue in midtown Toronto.

The event and fundraiser has raised close to $25,000 for SickKids to date, and this year, 29 neighbours will join Gordon in decorating their houses.

The displays are already up to be viewed, and will run until Halloween Monday.

Thornhill Woods Haunted House in support of SickKids

The annual Thornhill Woods Haunted House, created and hosted by Thornhill’s Chris Ainsworth, is back in support of SickKids.

The haunted house experience has raised over $150,000 for SickKids to date.

Over the years, the Thornhill Woods Haunted House has grown from a few pumpkins on the lawn to a five-room walk-through experience to a Halloween street party.

All proceeds can be collected on-site or online.

The haunted house runs from Friday to Halloween Monday between 6 p.m. to 10 p.m located at 1 Krisbury Ave.

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Howl’oween at The Bentway

For the first time since before the pandemic, the cutest Halloween event is making a comeback at The Bentway Skate Trail.

Howl’oween is an outdoor costume party and competition for dogs, and prizes will be awarded to the best-dressed pups.

The competition is going down this Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Durham Halloween Haunt

The Durham Regional Police Service is hosting the annual Halloween Haunt at the Kids’ Safety Village in Whitby this weekend.

Kids are encouraged to dress up in their Halloween costumes and bring their own bags to collect candy.

Admission is free but donations are accepted to help support the Village, which is a registered charity.

The event runs between Thursday to Saturday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Road closures

Partial Yonge closure

Starting at 7 a.m. on Friday and until 11 p.m. on Sunday, Yonge Street from Lake Shore Boulevard to Front Street is closed to drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians due to a partial demolition of the bridge over Yonge.

Access to Yonge Street from the westbound Gardiner off-ramp will also be closed. Northbound and southbound vehicular traffic will be redirected at Lake Shore Boulevard and Front Street.

Local access will be maintained on the west side of Yonge Street, between Lake Shore Boulevard and the south end of the bridge.

This closure is planned for six consecutive weekends to complete the bridge demolition.

Adelaide closure

Drivers travelling in the downtown core and into the Moss Park area can expect some major construction work on Adelaide Street ahead of the Ontario Line subway construction.

The City of Toronto says work along Adelaide from Bathurst to Parliament streets will include “critical upgrades to water, road and cycling infrastructure,” as well as completing TTC streetcar track work.

The work is expected to be completed in spring 2023.

Current traffic restrictions on Adelaide:

• Since October 25, Adelaide Street, from Duncan to Bay streets, have been reduced to one shared lane for vehicles and cyclists. There will be a partial intersection closure on Adelaide Street at Simcoe Street, with no through traffic south of Adelaide Street. Construction on the stretch between Duncan Street to York Street is expected to be completed by the end of November.
• Since October 27, the intersection of Adelaide Street and University Avenue will be reduced to one lane in each direction. Anticipated completion of this work is before November 15.

Click here for a full list of the current and upcoming closures on Adelaide.

Partial QEW closure in Mississauga

Starting at 10 p.m. on Friday, the QEW will be closed both ways at Hurontario Street until 5 a.m. on Monday.

Drivers will be forced onto the Hurontario off-ramps and then immediately be diverted back onto the highway using the Hurontario on-ramps.

Hurontario will also be closed between North Service and South Service roads, which means there will be no access to and from the QEW.

Other road closures due to construction

Access to Lake Shore Boulevard East via northbound Parliament Street will be closed until 9 p.m. on Sunday for ongoing gas main work. One westbound lane will be maintained across the intersection. Northbound and southbound traffic will be redirected at Lake Shore Boulevard East and Front Street East.

The Esplanade between Market Street and Church Street will be closed from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday for crane work.

Yonge Street between Maitland Street and Alexander Street will be closed from 7 p.m. on Friday to 5 a.m. on Monday for crane work at 480 Yonge St.

Rees Street from Bremner Boulevard to Lake Shore Boulevard West is closed to vehicular traffic until 6 p.m. Friday for Toronto Hydro work.

To accommodate TTC streetcar tracks replacement and other infrastructure upgrades, the following road closures are in effect until mid-November:

• College Street, between Borden Street and Spadina Avenue, is reduced to one eastbound lane
• College Street from St. George Street to University Avenue is reduced to one westbound lane
• Southbound University Avenue at College Street will be reduced to one lane on Tuesday

 

The intersection of King Street West and Shaw Street is fully closed until mid-November for TTC track replacement.

Traffic lanes on Queens Park, between Bloor Street West and Queen’s Park Crescent, are reduced for TTC elevator work at Museum Station.

The Queensway has a reduced number of lanes in both directions, between Parkside Drive and the King-Queen-Queensway-Roncesvalles intersection, for TTC track replacement and road reconstruction work. Eastbound left turns are not permitted from The Queensway to Glendale Avenue.

Roncesvalles Avenue is closed from Queen Street West to Harvard Avenue for water main replacement, TTC track replacement and road reconstruction.

Wellington Street, from Church Street to Yonge Street, is reduced to one westbound lane for TTC track replacement and sidewalk work. Scott Street, north of Wellington Street, is closed to all vehicular traffic.

Road closures due to events

Danforth Avenue between Broadview Avenue and Donlands Avenue will be closed to vehicular traffic from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday for the Oxi Day Parade.

Church Street between the north side of Carlton Street to the south side of Gloucester Street will be closed to vehicular traffic from 6 p.m. on Monday to 2 a.m. on Tuesday for the Halloween on Church event.

Transit updates

GO train service on the Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East and Barrie GO lines will be impacted this weekend due to construction.

Lakeshore West trains will run hourly between Union Station and West Harbour GO Station. Connection times between Lakeshore East and West trains will be longer. Niagara Falls trains and bus routes 12, 15 and 18 will run under slightly different schedules.

Trains will also run under slightly different schedules on the Lakeshore East line to accommodate the work on the Lakeshore West line.

Trains on the Barrie Line between Union and Aurora GO Stations will run hourly, however, trains won’t be operating between Aurora GO and Allandale Waterfront GO stations. Buses will replace some of the cancelled train service.

Click here for GO Transit updates.