Dufferin Street Bridge

Future Permanent Bridge Replacement: The City of Toronto is planning to replace the Dufferin Street Bridges over the Gardiner Expressway and the Metrolinx Rail Corridor. Work is underway to develop detailed designs for the new bridges. The construction start date is subject to coordination with future work on the Ontario Line.

December 2023

  • The emergency repair of the Dufferin Street bridge over the rail corridor has been completed. Both north and southbound lanes of Dufferin Street are now reopened to vehicular traffic.

    Temporary crash protection measures have been put in place until a permanent fixture is installed. The permanent installation is expected to take one day, which will require a temporary closure of Dufferin Street. Advance notice of the one day closure will be provided to the public once the date is confirmed.

October 2023

August 2023

  • A virtual Public Information Event was held on August 3, 2023 to present an update and provide an opportunity to ask questions about the upcoming construction.  View the Presentation, and Meeting Summary for details.

July 2023

The construction map illustrates the location of the emergency repair of the Dufferin Street Bridge over the Metrolinx Rail Corridor.

Map showing the location of the Dufferin Bridge over the Metrolinx Rail Corridor on Dufferin Street. For more information please contact Karolina Kluska

While we aim to provide fully accessible content, there is no text alternative available for some of the content on this page. If you require alternate formats or need assistance understanding our maps, drawings or any other content, please contact us at 416-392-9026 or email Karolina.Kluska@toronto.ca.

In 2011, the City, Metrolinx/GO Transit, and the Toronto Transit Commission completed a study to evaluate replacement options for the Dufferin Street bridges.  Further field investigations identified that the original Dufferin Street bridges were reaching the end of their service life.  In 2013, the bridges were removed due to health and safety concerns and replaced with temporary bridges.

Planned work for the Dufferin Bridges includes:

  • Replacement of the bridges on the same alignment as the original bridges
  • Widening the bridges to allow space for pedestrian and cycling improvements including:
    • sidewalks on both sides of the bridges
    • cycle tracks on both sides of the bridges, raised and separated from vehicles
    • new lookout areas at the centre of the two bridges, on the east and west sides of the bridge
  • Track replacement at the Dufferin Gate Loop to accommodate future TTC Dufferin Loop-Exhibition Loop connection as part of the TTC Waterfront Transit Network Expansion
  • Upgrades to and relocation of the existing Dufferin Gate Arch
  • Improvements to the streetscape, landscape and transition area to the Exhibition Grounds

While preliminary design work on the permanent bridges is complete, the ongoing detailed design phase has been temporarily paused due to recent changes in the provincial transit expansion plans.  The City is working closely with TTC, Metrolinx and Exhibition Place to ensure careful coordination of plans and projects in the area of the Dufferin Street Bridges, and to develop the most suitable design approach for the permanent bridges. Preliminary designs for the project were presented to the City’s Design Review Panel in November 2022.