It's going to be a nightmare getting around Toronto this Victoria Day long weekend

Road and transit closures in Toronto this weekend will make travel around the city a total nightmare.

What's Toronto without some travel hiccups? This Victoria Day long weekend is shaping up to be a messy one, with buses, trains, subways, and major road closures all hitting at the same time. 

As the city gets ready for the unofficial start of summer with patio hangs, and trips to the cottage, a wave of construction work and planned shutdowns is about to make getting around a whole lot harder.

Commuters and weekend travellers should expect delays pretty much everywhere, given that 154 kilometres of Toronto-area transit routes will be closed this long weekend. Plan ahead and pack patience in your cooler bag.

Line 6 - Finch West

The five-month-old LRT line will be shut down from Friday, May 15, until May 18, 2026, to accommodate "infrastructure and system improvement work." The entire 10.3-kilometre line will be out of service, and those looking to travel along Finch Ave. W. will have to hop on crammed shuttle buses instead.

Line 2 Bloor-Danforth

If you've got plans downtown on Sunday morning, you may want to find an alternative route as nearly 5 kilometres of Line 2 will be shut down. TTC has announced that subway service between St. George and Chester station won't start until 11 a.m. on Sunday, May 17. This is due to beam replacement work on the Prince Edward Viaduct.

Of course, Shuttle buses will operate instead, stopping at each station along the route, although the transit agency notes that Bay and Sherbourne stations will be closed that day, too.

UP Express

The entire 23.3-kilometre UP Express route will shut down from Saturday, May 16, through Monday, May 18, to accommodate planned construction for the future Woodbine GO and St. Clair–Old Weston Station.

If you need to get to the airport to catch a flight, this long weekend, GO buses will be deployed to replace trains, running a direct service between Pearson Airport Terminal 1 and Union Station Bus Terminal. It will not be stopping at Bloor, Mount Dennis or Weston stations, though.

Kitchener GO

The entire Kitchener GO line, which stretches 102.7 kilometres, will be out of service this entire long weekend. Service on the line will be halted May 16 through May 18, however, GO buses will shuttle passengers to Kitchener, Guelph, Acton, Georgetown, Mount Pleasant, Brampton and Bramalea GO to the Highway 407 Bus Terminal. 

The area south of 407 will not be served, and commuters are instructed to transfer to the TTC's Line 1 and continue to Union Station via subway. Malton, Etobicoke North, Mount Dennis, Weston and Bloor GO stations will not be served during the outage.

Barrie GO

A portion of the Barrie GO Line will also shut down from May 6 through May 18. A roughly 17.3-kilometre stretch of the line spanning between Downsview Park GO and Union Station will be out of service, which, Metrolinx says, is to accommodate preliminary construction work for a future second track.

Lake Shore Blvd E. & Don Roadway DVP Ramp

Another major disruption is coming to the city's east end, with nightly closures along Lake Shore Blvd E. beginning Thursday, May 14, through Friday, May 22, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. 

As part of Waterfront Toronto's ongoing Lake Shore Boulevard East Project, paving work will shut down stretches of the highway between Don Roadway and Carlaw Ave., along with the Don Roadway ramp to the Don Valley Parkway, making it tougher for drivers trying to get out of the downtown core.

Emdaabiimok Ave.

Portions of main roads will be closed beginning Monday, May 18 at 9 p.m. to accommodate the scheduled fireworks display at Ashbridges Bay. Emdaabiimok Avenue (formerly Lower Coxwell Ave.) will be closed from Lakeshore Blvd. E. to Eastern Ave. and another portion of Lake Shore Blvd. E from Leslie St. to Queen St. E will be shut down as well.

Beare St.

Due to filming, Beare St. in Scarborough will be shut down between Plug Hat Rd. and Steeles Ave. E. on Saturday, May 16, from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m.

If all this is giving you a headache, don't worry, because there's nothing wrong with spending a long weekend in the comfort of your own neighbourhood. Otherwise, good luck out there, Toronto!