Eglinton Avenue repaving halted by contractor strike
Large sections of road along the newly opened Line 5 LRT corridor remain crumbling months after the project was completed. Construction was set to start this week but has been delayed.
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Line 5 opened to the public earlier this year after 14 years of construction, but large stretches of Eglinton Avenue remain visibly deteriorated and waiting for repaving.
The Eglinton Crosstown LRT project formally reached substantial completion in 2025 after years of delays and defects. Since then, much of the 19-kilometre corridor between Mount Dennis and Kennedy has seen road and sidewalk reconstruction, plus new cycling infrastructure in some areas.
But two larger sections still haven't been touched. One runs along Eglinton Avenue West from near Caledonia Road eastbound toward Dufferin Street. The other stretches from near Mount Pleasant Road all the way east to Brentcliffe Road, past Laird Drive. Both show significant road deterioration.
According to Ashley Curtis, Toronto's general manager of transportation services, construction on the Mount Pleasant to Brentcliffe section was supposed to start this week. A contractor strike has brought that timeline to a halt. The city says it's staying in close contact with the contractor to resume work as soon as possible.
The Caledonia Road section faces a different delay. Heavy construction in that area due to sewer infrastructure upgrades under the Fairbank Silverthorn Storm Trunk Sewer Project has pushed back the repaving work. Curtis said the city will provide a revised timeline once the sewer work progresses.
The irony is sharp: a transit project meant to improve the corridor sits gleaming while the street itself remains broken. For residents and businesses along Eglinton, the half-finished state undercuts what was supposed to be a neighbourhood transformation.
Expect more waiting before Eglinton Avenue finally looks as renewed as the LRT beneath it.