Business owners, commuters worry about traffic disruptions at Broadview and Danforth

Monday marks the start of a three-week construction project at Broadview and Danforth Avenue that will create a messy commute for anyone trying to get through the neighbourhood.

The construction started in early July when the City of Toronto started closing portions of Broadview for road work and streetcar track replacement between Gerrard and Danforth.

As of August 14, only one shared eastbound lane will be available at the intersection with no westbound traffic on Danforth through the intersection and no southbound traffic on Broadview.

There will also be on-site signage to mark a detour route for cyclists travelling westbound. Once the north side tracks are completed, there will be further work to replace the southbound tracks, expected to wrap up after Labour Day weekend.

The major lane restrictions are causing traffic chaos in the community.

“It’s really like they’ve gone nuclear on this part of the town. You can’t come south, you can’t come north, people literally won’t come to this neighbourhood now,” said one commuter. “You have to have in depth planning just to leave your neighbourhood and go visit somebody.”

The constant construction is having an impact on more than just the commute as businesses in the area are struggling to stay alive after a difficult few years.

“We only have the one lane of traffic, it even hurts our Uber [business] because Uber drivers have no place to park,” said Paul, a server at Broadview Diner. “It’s kind of slowed things down, people locally don’t want to come in quite as much because of all the hassles with that, it’s kind of tough.”

At a nearby A&W restaurant, the franchisee owner Sam Matti tells CityNews he’s already lost more than half his business. He even send some of his employees home early Monday.

“Sixty to 70 per cent loss of the business here. That’s why I’m here, I had to send some kids home, I can’t afford it anymore. I’m doing a shift, I shouldn’t be here, doing nothing,” said Matti

He wants to be compensated for the loss of business from the city, but isn’t hopeful they’ll come through.

“We’re not getting any help at all … It’s really getting tough,” added Matti.

The Director of Roadways Design and Construction with the City, Mo Pannu, tells CityNews the work is critical to reduce noise and improve TTC service in the area.

“The newer streetcar the tracks will reduce the noise in the area as well,” said Pannu. “Obviously this infrastructure is important for our city and our communities so it needs to be upgraded so there are no compensations associated with this type of work.”

He adds multiple steps are being taken to improve. “Please allow yourself a little bit of extra time to get through and if possible take the alternate routes.”

The City said they will be using real-time video monitoring and deploy Traffic Agents to help manage traffic in the area and pedestrian access to business and sidewalks around the site will be maintained.