December 2025 Update: The City of Toronto has installed road safety improvements at Burnhamthorpe Road and Mill Road and Rathburn Road and Mill Road. Signal activation work at Burnhamthorpe Road and Mill Road is currently being completed. View all Installation Notices in the News & Updates accordion.
The City of Toronto has installed a new bikeway connection to Centennial Park from Mississauga’s Burnhamthorpe Trail at the border of Toronto along Burnhamthorpe Road and continuing on Mill Road. The project includes an extension of the existing multi-use trail, new on-street cycle tracks and intersection improvements. This project will provide a safer connection to the new multi-use trails as part of the Centennial Park Master Plan on Centennial Park Boulevard and Rathburn Road, completed in 2025.
October 2025: Beginning October 22, 2025 the City will begin making road safety improvements to the intersection of Burnhamthorpe Road and Mill Road. Changes include:
Curb cuts are also planned to be implemented at the Mill Road and Rathburn Road intersection to improve accessibility for people walking and people with other accessibility needs.
Installation of these improvements are part of the Centennial Cycling Connections Project. Installation of the project commenced in August 2025.
View the construction notices below for more information:
The project area is divided into two segments with different changes planned on each segment:
City Council approved the installation of bikeways on Burnhamthorpe Road from Mill Road to the Toronto City Limit (multi-use trail) and Mill Road between Burnhamthorpe Road and Rathburn Road (bi-directional cycle track). A copy of the staff report is available at IE14.4.
In this section, the City has installed a temporary multi-use trail, which will be made permanent pending the completion of the development at 340 Mill Road. Changes include:
In this section, the City installed a two-way cycle track on the east side of the street. Changes include:
Public consultation on this project took place in 2024. The public consultation report (linked below) provides a detailed summary of all activities that took place, proposed changes, and feedback received.
A Public Drop-in Event was held on April 9, 2024 at Silverthorn Collegiate.
During Public Consultation, residents provided feedback on proposed design changes, resulting in changes to the approved project. These are outlined below:
What we heard: Implementing a no-right-on-red at the intersection of Burnhamthorpe Road and Mill Road could cause traffic congestion on Mill Road, as cars wait to make right turns onto Mill Road, especially when there are no pedestrians cross Burnhamthorpe Road.
What is planned: A no right-on-red was not implemented. Additionally, the southbound curb lane on Mill Road was converted to a dedicated right turn only lane. The northbound curb lane on Mill Road was also converted to a dedicated right turn only lane.
What we heard: Signal timings need to be adjusted to move vehicles through the intersection of Burnhamthorpe Road and Mill Road more effectively.
What is planned: As part of intersection improvement work, signal timings will be updated. This update will include installing bicycle signals for the crossing on the north legs of the intersection.
Along with the completion of the residential development at 340 Mill Road, a permanent multi-use trail will be installed from Mississauga’s Burnhamthorpe Trail at the border of Toronto along Burnhamthorpe Road and connect to the planned bikeway on Mill Road. In the interim, a temporary multi-use trail has been installed. There are no impacts to the roadway.
A bi-directional cycle track on the east side of Mill Road was chosen as Mill Road does not have enough roadway width to accommodate uni-directional (one-way) cycle tracks in each direction. Mill Road is 10 metres wide, and installing uni-directional cycle tracks would not provide enough physical space for the buffers and physical protection required for the safety of people cycling.
A bi-directional cycle track fits within the available space while still providing a safe, comfortable, and fully protected bikeway for all users.
Cycling Connectivity: The east side provides a direct connection to the multi-use trail on Centennial Park Boulevard, eliminating the need for people cycling to cross the stop-controlled intersection at Rathburn Road and Mill Road.
Fewer large driveway entrances: The east side has fewer large driveway entrances than the west, reducing potential conflict points between people cycling and motor vehicles.
Traffic Impacts: Installing the bikeway on the east side avoids making additional signal changes and helps maintain a more efficient flow of traffic than the alternatives. For example, a uni-directional cycle track on both sides of the road, or a west-side bi-directional cycle track would require a dedicated right-turn traffic signal phase at the Mill Road and Burnhamthorpe Road intersection, because of the high number of southbound right-turning vehicles.
Permanent bikeway construction is most common when combined with other construction activities, such as road rehabilitation, for cost saving opportunities. No road rehabilitation projects are planned for the next five years on Mill Road. Therefore, to implement and improve safety on the roadway, the City uses quick-build materials for new cycling infrastructure and safety improvements. These quick-build materials allow the City to deliver projects faster and at a lower cost, while still providing clear separation between people cycling and motor vehicles.
When full road work is scheduled on Mill Road in the future, the current quick-build installation may be upgraded to a permanent design—such as a raised bikeway.
Toronto builds and upgrades bikeways to improve road safety for all. New and enhanced bikeways help to reduce speeding and provide a buffer between pedestrians and motor vehicle traffic. Expanding the cycling network also aligns with other City policy objectives, such as TransformTO, which aims for 75% of all school and work trips under 5 km by walking, cycling and transit by 2030, and the Vision Zero Road Safety Plan which strives to reduce traffic-related deaths and injuries to zero by prioritizing the safety of our most vulnerable road users.
Cycling on sidewalks is prohibited in Toronto for individuals aged 14 and older, as sidewalks are designated for pedestrians and those using mobility aids. The implementation of on-street cycle tracks will provide safer cycling spaces while keeping sidewalks unobstructed for pedestrians.
Prior to construction, Mill Road consisted of one 5.0m wide vehicle lane in each direction, which exceeds the City’s minimum lane widths guidelines of 3.3m for a curb lane. Following the quick-build project, the vehicle lanes were reduced to 3.3m from Burnhamthorpe Road to Rathburn Road.
The benefits of reducing lane widths include encouraging drivers to travel within the speed limit. Studies in Toronto and other Cities have shown wider vehicle lanes lead to speeding. Narrow lane widths achieve the following:
During the project’s design phase, consultation was conducted with the City of Toronto’s Operations and Maintenance, Solid Waste, and Emergency Services to ensure City maintenance and emergency vehicles can still manoeuvre. Safe access for emergency vehicles is a fundamental part of the design process.
The City will service the bi-directional cycle track on Mill Road during the winter using snowplow equipment. Visit toronto.ca/snow to learn more about winter maintenance of bikeways.
Bi-directional cycle tracks have been implemented in various locations across the city and have shown to improve safety for all road users. The Mill Road design has been employed successfully on similar streets and is intended to improve safety of all road users.
The City of Toronto is implementing changes on Burnhamthorpe Road and Mill Road as part of the Cycling Network Plan near-term implementation plan for 2022-2024 and to fulfill the City’s commitment to the Vision Zero Road Safety Plan. This project is part of the Council-Approved Cycling Network Plan and advances the goals of several City of Toronto Strategies including Vision Zero Road Safety Plan and TransformTO: Net Zero Strategy. Vision Zero’s goal is to eliminate traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries by making our roads safer for everyone, especially for seniors, school children, pedestrians and people cycling.
From 2018 to 2022, there were 59 reported vehicle collisions involving four pedestrians and one serious injury on Mill Road between Burnhamthorpe Road and Rathburn Road. All planned changes are focused on reducing future collisions.
City Council approved this project in June 2024.
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