"It's been pretty much a ghost town ever since," Stephen Fountain told The Local this month. He was describing Buy & Sell Kings at 2852 Danforth after construction gates went up outside the store in September. In the same piece, he put a number on it. Saturday, the shop's best day, used to bring in between three and four thousand dollars in sales. After the fences went up it fell to around $900.
Since February, most of us have pictured the Danforth east of Main as fenced and torn up, a street to drive around. That picture now fits only half the strip. Dawes Road now splits the City's upgrade between Main Street and Victoria Park Avenue. West of Dawes, the street has been paved and reopened in both directions. East of Dawes, the closures and the remaining work will run into December.
Where The Line Moved
The City's September 17 construction update said all the underground work was finished: watermain, sewers, service connections, trenching and temporary restoration. The same notice scheduled milling between Main and Dawes for September 18 and paving for September 23.
The next step pushed the work east. According to the City's September 25 notice, eastbound Danforth between Dawes and Victoria Park closed on Wednesday, September 30 for cycle-track installation and is expected to stay closed until December. Westbound traffic stays open. On October 5, Transit Toronto reported that the City had reopened the eastbound lanes between Main and Dawes.
Here is how the strip breaks down right now:
- Main Street to Dawes Road: freshly paved and open eastbound and westbound.
- Dawes Road to Victoria Park Avenue: westbound only, with surface work, sidewalks and cycle tracks still going in.
What The Buses Are Doing
Most of us pay attention to construction when it changes the bus. Under the October 5 arrangement, the TTC kept routes 20, 113 and 300 on detour. The 23 Dawes went back to its regular path.
The detour notice listed Friday, October 30 as its end date. The City still expects the eastbound closure east of Dawes to last until December, so those two dates don't agree. Check the TTC's service alerts for the 20, 113 and 300 before you plan a trip around them.
The West Half, Address By Address
Your regulars between Main and Dawes are now on a finished road, and some of them have been on this stretch for decades.
Len Duckworth Fish & Chips, 2638 Danforth. Jack and Edith Duckworth founded the shop in 1929. blogTO reported last year that Len Duckworth's children still run it, which makes it a family operation on the same street for close to a century. The sign outside says 1930, but the shop's own site gives 1929.
Mr. Tasty's Drive-In, 2743 Danforth. The owner, who goes by Will, told Beach Metro Community News in late September that the restaurant has been on Danforth for 46 years and has "literally served three generations." He also said in that interview that the restaurant might not survive if construction carried on in its current form much longer. Beach Metro's photo with that story shows paving underway east of Main the week before it ran.
Bike and Forth, 2810 Danforth. John Sapione opened the shop 17 years ago. He told The Local that sales were down 50 percent, mostly because people couldn't park to drop off bikes for repair. He also described the business as seasonal, with "six good months." Those six months are now behind him. A tune-up booked before the snow helps a shop that has to earn most of its year in the warm season.
Buy & Sell Kings, 2852 Danforth. This is the second-hand shop from the opening quote. Fountain's point to The Local was practical: "How are customers bringing us heavier items if they can't park?" With eastbound traffic back between Main and Dawes, dropping off a heavy item is easier than it was in September. The store's location page lists current hours.
What happens to these four businesses over the next few weeks matters for the whole strip. The Danforth Village BIA surveyed 96 businesses on this stretch, comparing March to August 2026 with the same period in 2025. As CP24 reported, 95.8 percent saw revenue fall and a third lost more than 60 percent. Beach Metro reported that nearly 70 percent were worried they might have to close. Beach Metro also reported that the City does not pay direct compensation for municipal infrastructure work, and pointed businesses to its existing small-business programs instead.
That makes the reopened western half the first part of the strip where business can actually pick up again before winter.
East Of Dawes, Where The Work Is Now
The section between Dawes and Victoria Park is now the hardest part of the strip to reach. It also has a long run of restaurants and food shops. All of the following appear on the Danforth Village BIA's business map:
- Little Bangladesh Restaurant, 2940 Danforth, a Bengali restaurant that takes reservations through its own site
- Adi Bikrampur Sweets and Fast Food, 2968 Danforth
- Swiss Bakery & Fast Food, 2984 Danforth
- Ghoroaa Restaurant, 2994 Danforth, a Bangladeshi restaurant that CBC Toronto featured in its 2024 coverage of the area
- Sarker Foods, 2996 Danforth
- Kababia, 3032 Danforth
With eastbound closed and the sidewalks being rebuilt, hours and entrances can change from week to week, so call ahead before making a special trip. Getting there on foot is the simplest option. If you're driving, the westbound lane is open, so the easiest approach is to come along Danforth from Victoria Park heading west.
Some of the work under this stretch had been there a long time. According to The Local, crews removing old infrastructure this spring took out streetcar tracks that had been buried between Dawes Road and Luttrell Avenue.
A Loop That Uses The Finished Half
On a weekend afternoon before the cold sets in, this route covers both halves of the strip:
- Start at Main Street Station and walk east on the newly paved section.
- Order fish and chips at Len Duckworth's, 2638 Danforth.
- Keep going past Mr. Tasty's at 2743 to Bike and Forth at 2810 and book a fall tune-up.
- Look through Buy & Sell Kings at 2852.
- Cross Dawes and walk the westbound-only stretch to the bakeries and restaurants between 2940 and 3032, then take the westbound 113 or the subway home.
What December Should Leave Behind
According to the City's project page, the finished road will keep one vehicle lane in each direction plus turning lanes at intersections. The street-level changes are:
- Raised TTC platforms where buses can pull over without blocking traffic
- Raised crossings on some side streets
- Permanent concrete curbs along a repaved cycle track, raised at loading and parking areas
- Bio-retention planters that take in stormwater
- New commercial loading areas
- Five more on-street parking spaces than before
The finish date has moved more than once. The Local reported that the project was first meant to finish in September and that the City now gives mid-December. Toronto Life wrote in September that the City expected completion by November. The City's own page, last updated September 25, says the project is "now expected to be complete by December 2026." You can subscribe to email updates on that page if you want to hear about the next change as soon as it's announced.
Until then, the road between Main and Dawes is finished, and the businesses on it have been open through all of this.
If you live on a side street off Danforth and want to talk about how the finished street could change things on your block, I'm happy to walk it with you. I know this stretch. Reach out to Derek Ladouceur to book a showing or request a free home valuation.
