Toronto council approves scramble intersection at Yonge and Eglinton

Toronto City Council voted to install a scramble intersection at Yonge and Eglinton, where roughly 4,500 pedestrians cross every hour.

During certain intervals, the traffic lights will stop all vehicles in every direction, allowing pedestrians to cross in any direction—including diagonally. This relieves crowding on sidewalks at one of the city's busiest intersections.

"Yonge and Eglinton has become one of the busiest intersections in the city and I want to make it safer and more manageable," said Councillor Josh Matlow, who introduced the motion.

Lee Scott, part of the community group Walk Toronto, has been advocating for a scramble intersection since last year. "We get pushed off and then we're waiting for the directional change to go with the cars. There's often cars that are kind of pushing ahead of their green lights. And so they actually go even into pedestrians who are walking on their walk signal," Scott said.

The intersection is set to be installed in 2027. Council also requested evaluation of a second scramble intersection at Yonge and Roehampton Avenue/Orchard View Boulevard before implementing it.

Matti Siemiatycki, Professor of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto, noted potential trade-offs. "It can cause increase in delays for drivers because it adds an additional light cycle that's for pedestrians only," he said. However, Matlow said council directed Transportation Services to optimize signal timing along the Yonge Street corridor to minimize traffic impacts.

Siemiatycki also flagged accessibility concerns for people with visual impairments and other disabilities navigating the intersection.