Toronto park about to close for 5 years or possibly even longer

A Toronto park is about to close for a lengthy five-year period — or possibly even longer, based on the dismal track record of transit projects in this city.

The Gerrard-Carlaw Parkette and dog off-leash area (DOLA), located at the southwest corner of the intersection across from legendary Caribbean restaurant The Real Jerk, is set to close as early as Tuesday, Nov. 4, to accommodate a major transit project.

The park and attached DOLA are just a few of the local amenities being displaced to make way for the new Gerrard Station on the upcoming $27 billion Ontario Line.

A long-planned missing link in Toronto's rapid transit network, the Ontario Line will run for 15.6 kilometres, with 15 stations and new connections with the future Line 5 Eglinton, Line 2 Bloor-Danforth, and Line 1 Yonge-University.

That long-term gain is going to require some shorter-term pain in areas of future stations, though. Local residents near Gerrard and Carlaw have already lost a local mall to make way for the project, and are now about to lose a neighbourhood park for at least the next five years.

During the closure, locals will notice fencing and hoarding installed around the site perimeter, along with the removal of the parkette's trees in November to free up space for the new subway station structures that will straddle the existing Gerrard rail bridge.

Thankfully, locals already have access to a new temporary DOLA, which recently opened at the southeast corner of Gerrard Street East and Carlaw Avenue. This much-needed space for pet owners will remain until the park across the street reopens a few years down the line.

Gerrard Station is expected to be substantially complete in 2030, at which point the park would reopen to locals. 

However, area residents would be forgiven for doubting this timeline following disastrous Metrolinx projects like the Eglinton Crosstown and Finch West LRT lines. Metrolinx notes that "Construction work may be postponed or rescheduled due to unforeseen weather conditions or other construction-related impacts."