Portion of Bathurst Street may shut down for construction of Forest Hill Station

Businesses concerned about Crosstown road closures Metrolinx is proposing closing down a portion of Bathurst Street for a seven-month period due to construction of Forest Hill Station.

Residents in the city’s Forest Hill neighbourhood say that a proposed road closure along Bathurst Street to accommodate Eglinton Crosstown construction will cause a big problem for local businesses.

Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency responsible for the Crosstown, has said they plan to close Bathurst Street near Eglinton Avenue for a seven-month period due to construction of Forest Hill Station, one of 25 planned stops along the 19-kilometre light-rail line.

Metrolinx said the closure would shorten the construction of the station by about three months.

After residents raised concern with city council, Metrolinx agreed to postpone the road closure and hold a town hall meeting in order to receive input from residents in the area.

In a notice posted to his website on Jan. 3, Ward 12 councillor Josh Matlow said that he was “surprised” and “frankly upset” by the original announcement. He also said there was no evidence that the road closures would speed up the final Eglinton Crosstown completion date.

“There are significant concerns about the bus detours, and traffic infiltration into neighbourhoods this closure could cause, further exacerbating the situation residents are already living with every day,” he said in the statement.

“However, Metrolinx/Crosslinx still want to proceed with a closure this year. We have confirmed that they must hold a full and complete public consultation with the residents in our community as I believe consultation should come before, not after, announcements of a decision.”

The area of Bathurst Street and Eglinton Avenue has already been experiencing partial road closures while construction takes place on the underground station. The intersection has been reduced to one lane in either direction.

“Our area is bad enough as it is. I already have cars whipping down my street at the best of times and now they are going to make it that much worse,” area resident Darren Richmond said.

Sheryl Segal, who has been operating a clothing store in the area for 18 years, told CTV News Toronto that the intersection closure will cause “big problems” for businesses.

“Costumers have 20 minutes to shop and they don’t have their 20 minutes to wait in traffic and have to find parking or not be able to park,” she said. “It deters customers from coming here.”

According to the Eglinton Crosstown website, the intersection will undergo a new overnight partial closure in mid-January. Traffic on Bathurst Street will be shifted to the east side of the road while cars driving on Eglinton will remain on the south. The closure will begin around 9 p.m. each day.

The website says the overnight traffic change will be in place for three weeks, “followed by another traffic change at the intersection in early February 2019.”

Traffic on Bathurst Street will be shifted to the east side of the road while cars driving on Eglinton will remain on the south.

Metrolinx will be hosting a town hall meeting on Wednesday to hear from residents about the proposed closure.