Businesses along Danforth Avenue ‘devastated’ by ongoing construction work between Main and Victoria Park
By MATTHEW STEPHENS
Businesses along Danforth Avenue east of Main Street are reporting “significant economic and operational impacts” due to ongoing city construction work in the area.
A recent survey from the Danforth Village Business Improvement Area (DVBIA) revealed that more than 98 per cent of Danforth Avenue businesses between Main Street and Victoria Park Avenue were reporting a decline in customer and foot traffic compared to the same time last year.
“The businesses along Danforth Avenue have been dealing with construction-related disruption for months, and these survey results put measurable data behind what businesses have been telling us,” reads the Danforth Village BIA report. “The message from the business community is clear: access has been significantly affected, revenues have suffered, and businesses cannot withstand an open-ended construction timeline.”
In an interview with Beach Metro Community News, Danforth Village BIA coordinator Louis Dapergolas said local businesses have been “devastated” by the ongoing construction work on city infrastructure in the area.
Construction began along Danforth Avenue between Main Street and Victoria Park Avenue in February of this year as part of a major infrastructure project which includes upgrades to watermains and sewers, catch basins, sidewalks and road surfacing, and permanent cycling infrastructure that includes raised bike lanes and curb extensions. With underground work completed within the first five months since the project commenced, the remaining work to be done is on the above-ground improvements and is scheduled through to December 2026.
“We’re close to seven months in now, and they did the watermain work – which is great – but the issue is now that raising these bike lanes has added three months to this overall project, and it has absolutely devastated our businesses here with no parking and limited access,” said Dapergolas.
From the start, the Danforth Village BIA was against the need for the raised bike lanes as proposed by the city. “The BIA objected to the bike lane upgrades. We wanted to keep the same bike lanes as they were before because we knew that it would extend the project timeline,” said Dapergolas.
After spending 18 days conducting bike lane counts, the Danforth Village BIA found that “approximately 85 per cent” of its traffic were food delivery vehicles, prompting a broader discussion about their necessity to the community.
Having the work in the area last longer is putting extreme pressure on the businesses in the area as they have already dealt with months of declining customers and revenue.
Local businesses who completed the Danforth Village BIA survey were asked to compare their experience of business during March to August 2026 with the same five-month period in 2025. Of the 96 local businesses that completed the survey, 43.8 per cent reported that more than 60 per cent of their customer foot traffic has dwindled, and just over 80 per cent reported a customer decline of 40 per cent or more. The businesses also reported a drop of 50 per cent or more in revenues.
“As you can see, it’s slow. Business has declined at least 90 per cent. It’s hard to get into my business and it’s hard to get out when I leave at night,” one business owner, who wished to remain anonymous, told a Beach Metro Community News reporter who visited the area last week.
Dapergolas also said the construction project’s restrictive fencing has worsened the issue of active drug users in the area.
“Because personal consumption is legal now, people aren’t getting charged,” he explained. “But you shouldn’t be allowed to smoke openly. I have an 11-year-old daughter, and I can’t walk down the street with her anymore.”
According to business owner Will (who wished not to use his last name) from Mr. Tasty’s Drive-In at 2743 Danforth Ave., many of the restaurant’s customers have said that safety concerns associated with open drug use have deterred them from coming to the area in recent months.
The lack of support and action from the city for the small businesses in the area was criticized by one of the owners. “They talk about the importance of supporting small businesses but then allow construction to carry on for months without end and cripple the people they claim to support,” the business owner said of the city.
As construction continues, many of the business owners now fear pedestrians are avoiding the area altogether and that will only be worsened if the project is extended past December as foot traffic further declines in the winter months.
“If they don’t meet the deadline, it’s not going to be good,” one owner explained. “I won’t be able to pay my bills, and without customers, I can’t afford to pay the heat, the rent, the hydro, but the city still expects their property taxes and for us to pay our dues but does nothing to help us when we’re in a time of need.”
After operating along Danforth for the last 46 years, Will said Mr. Tasty’s might not survive if construction continues in its present form for much longer. “As you can see right now, it’s our lunchtime and we have nobody,” said Will, gesturing around an empty restaurant during what would normally be their peak hours.
He said that without adequate support from the city, the business will surely face closure in the months to come. “We’ve been on Danforth for 46 years – we have literally served three generations – and this is the truth of life that right now we are struggling. We’ve had no help from any source of government. No one has approached us; no one actually gives a damn to be honest.”
In the Danforth Village BIA report, local businesses also cited other issues associated with the construction work, such as a lack of customer parking, difficulty receiving deliveries, issues with garbage collection, as well as concerns regarding pedestrian and wheelchair accessibility, TTC access, traffic congestion, storefront visibility, and continuously changing construction conditions.
The report noted that “nearly 70 per cent are concerned their business may have to close,” with 35.4 per cent attributing their closure to “disruptions caused by the construction project.”
The report also found that just over 90 per cent of local businesses believe the city should step up to provide compensation for those affected by the construction project.
“If they still expect us to pay our property taxes, they should compensate us; I think that’s more than fair to be compensated if bills are coming in but nothing’s going out,” said one business owner.
The Danforth Village BIA is calling on the city to do its part to protect the local businesses by taking a number of actions including ensuring construction work is completed by the deadline of December 2026, addressing customer access immediately, providing “meaningful” financial assistance, improving communication, and minimizing any additional disruptions.
Kayla Lewis, manager of the City of Toronto’s media relations team, said the city continues to “work closely with the BIA and other local stakeholders to help mitigate the impacts of construction.”
“This includes proactive business outreach, regular communications, dedicated on-site support and signage, as well as phased construction to help maintain access, traffic flow and business visibility,” said Lewis.
She said city staff have been “engaging the Danforth Village BIA and local businesses more than a year before construction started,” which included “two rounds of door-to-door outreach with local businesses,” and “a public information meeting attended by 30 participants, which was promoted through more than 9,000 mailed notices.”
She added that “business feedback” led directly to several project design changes, including the addition of five parking spaces, converting four commercial loading zones, modifying curb designs, and “incorporating measures to improve business access and deliveries.”
However, many business owners told Beach Metro Community News that the city has not done enough to provide help. The business owners also questioned the city’s infrastructure priorities for the area which is going to see a massive increase in density over the next few years as several residential highrise buildings have been approved near Danforth Avenue between Main Street and Dawes Road.
The city’s planned infrastructure changes don’t recognize the importance of small local businesses to the community, said the business owners who were particularly unhappy with the bike lanes on Danforth Avenue.
“I do understand that we need to look for green ways to commute, but at the same time, we have to be realistic. Danforth is a major street, and when the Don Valley Parkway is blocked, or they’re doing construction, Danforth is usually the other route that people take, and now they’ve converted it to one lane.” said Will.
“Residential buildings are popping up left and right, which means more population. More population means more cars. I don’t understand who came up with this plan. They clearly weren’t thinking about how the increase in population is going to impact commuters.”
Dapergolas said the city has disregarded much of the Danforth Village BIA’s feedback on the work in the area, including requests for adequate compensation for businesses and the removal of barriers left by construction crews for months in areas where work was not being carried out.
“Between Victoria Park and Sibley Avenue it’s been really bad. They had fencing up there from Day One, even though there was two or three months with no construction. We asked if they could remove the barricades and they basically told us that it was too expensive for them to be removed,” he said.
“There is no support available. We’ve been told on numerous occasions that there is no compensation available, and we’re not getting anything…When they informed us that they’re doing all these upgrades, we came up with recommendations, one of which was not to raise the bike lanes because we knew the problems it was going to create.”
Lewis said that “while the city does not provide financial compensation for businesses affected by municipal infrastructure,” they do provide year-round support through programs such as the Toronto Economic Resiliency Initiative (TERI), CaféTO, the Toronto Small Business Enterprise Centre, Digital Main Street, grants for businesses and BIAs, and the Small Business Property Tax Subclass.
But without any direct means for support from the city, Dapergolas said he can only hope the construction work is finished within the expected timeframe.
“We’re at the mercy of the city now on this, and we’re just hopeful that the contract will actually finish by the end of the year so we can get back to business here and go back to some form of normalcy,” said Dapergolas.
Businesses seeking city assistance can learn more about these programs through the city’s business support webpage at https://www.toronto.ca/business-economy/business-operation-growth/business-support/
