"Awful crumbling bump-outs and a median that was full of broken concrete, dead plants and weeds." That is how Councillor Josh Matlow described Oriole Parkway in his July 2026 newsletter. In the same note he called it the street running "through the heart of our Chaplin Estates neighbourhood," and said it is now "beautifully designed with a green median, tree-lined and completely repaved. And a commitment to maintain it."
Most people will notice the trees first. The curb around them matters more day to day. The grass and trees sit inside a concrete edge that controls how cars use the street, so the median now sets the rules for getting into a driveway, turning around, parking and waiting for the bus between Eglinton Avenue West and Chaplin Crescent.
A 2014 decision, finished in 2026
The project took a long time to arrive. City Council approved Section 37 funding to beautify the Oriole Parkway median between Eglinton Avenue and Imperial Street at its August 2014 meeting. City staff showed the design to the councillor and Parkway residents in June 2022. Feedback from that consultation, and later comments sent through the councillor's office, went into the redesign. Construction started in 2025 alongside road resurfacing and sidewalk work.
The last 2026 stretch also ran long. The City's Construction Update #3, dated April 6, 2026, set work to restart April 13 and finish May 31. At that point median work, catch basins, top paving, line painting and landscaping were all still to do. At the Oriole Park Association's annual meeting on May 7, Matlow said he hoped to see it finished "in June 2026." A Transportation Services report dated June 19 still called the work underway, with completion due sometime in 2026. The councillor's July newsletter gives the first account of a finished street.
What the old median allowed, and what the new one doesn't
According to the City's June report, the old median had a mountable curb, several raised concrete planters with shrubs and 13 medium-sized trees. Oriole Parkway itself is a two-way local road about 8.2 metres wide, with a 40 km/h limit and TTC bus service. A mountable curb could be driven over, and that is the detail the new design was built to change.
The new median has "a concrete barrier curb and apron along its edge to prevent non-compliant mounting of the median and turns to access driveways." The City's project page says it plainly: "Access to driveways will be right-in, right-out only."
At the May 7 meeting Matlow described the access question differently, and he acknowledged that the project had critics:
"I appreciate that some residents are opposed. But we specifically created 'cut throughs' to provide access from the road to driveways. I'm really proud of that."
The two accounts fit together. The City's wording describes the general rule for the barrier curb, and the councillor's wording describes the openings built into it. In practice, the side of the Parkway a household lives on now affects how it gets home. A driver coming from the other direction uses one of the openings in the median before pulling into the driveway.
| Before | After | |
|---|---|---|
| Median surface | Concrete with raised planters | Sodded, with barrier curb and apron |
| Median trees | 13 in planters | 53 per the City project page, 54 per the June 2026 report |
| Driveway access across the median | Mountable curb | Right-in, right-out, plus purpose-built openings |
| Corners | Curbside paver islands | Curb extensions with tighter corner radii |
The tree count depends on the source. The City's project page, last modified May 20, 2026, says 53 new street trees. The Transportation Services report from a month later says 54 new trees replacing the 13 that came out. Either way, the median holds roughly four times as many trees as before.
Walking the Parkway north, block by block
Since the curb limits where cars can cross, the openings in the median and the redesigned corners now shape how the street works. Here is the layout described in the City's June 19 report, from south to north:
- Eglinton Avenue West to Anderson Avenue. This block has the first mid-block opening for passenger vehicles to make U-turns.
- College View Avenue. The northwest corner gets a concrete curb extension with a tighter corner radius and a TTC stop. The Oriole Park Association also reported that crosswalk lines will be repainted at College View Avenue and Elmsthorpe Road, across from Oriole Park Junior Public School, with new signage.
- Hillsdale Avenue to Tranmer Avenue. This block has the second U-turn opening.
- Tranmer Avenue. The northwest corner gets a concrete curb extension with a TTC stop. The southwest corner gets a curb extension planted with shrubs and green infrastructure. At the OPA meeting, Matlow also mentioned the four-way stop installed at Tranmer.
- Tranmer Avenue to Imperial Street. This block has the third U-turn opening.
- Imperial Street. The southeast corner gets a planted curb extension with shrubs.
Each U-turn opening comes with a parking rule. The report recommended "No Standing" on both sides of the Parkway at every opening, so parked cars don't block the space a driver needs to turn. The report also lists new zebra crossing markings among the improvements, though it doesn't say which crossings get them.
The curb extensions do more than add greenery. The City's project page says the tighter corners are meant to give pedestrians more room, shorten crossing distances, slow turning cars and improve sight lines. Tactile plates are being added at crossings for people who are visually impaired.
The parking change was smaller than first planned
When the City first published the design, its project page estimated on-street parking would drop by "approximately 12 spaces" to make room for U-turns.
The bylaw that actually passed is much smaller. The June 19 report removes three paid on-street spaces on Oriole Parkway between Eglinton Avenue West and College View Avenue and adds a net two permit parking spaces. Staff estimated the lost paid spaces will cost the Toronto Parking Authority about $1,020.62 a year in gross revenue, and put the cost of new signs at $4,300.
The changes needed full Council approval because the TTC runs bus service on the Parkway. The item, 2026.TE34.136, went to Toronto and East York Community Council on July 8 and 9, 2026, and passed without amendment. City Council adopted it on July 29 and 30, 2026, on consent and without debate. Council exempted permit parking on Oriole Parkway between Anderson Avenue and College View Avenue from a section of the municipal permit-parking code. It also approved the traffic and parking bylaw amendments for the full stretch from Eglinton Avenue West to Chaplin Crescent.
For anyone who parks on the Parkway, the regulations are now in force. They aren't just proposals anymore.
What the curb doesn't settle yet
The median fixed the street between Eglinton and Chaplin, but not the intersections at either end. At the May 7 meeting, the OPA's pedestrian and traffic safety committee reported that the City is looking at pedestrian safety near Chaplin Crescent and Oriole Parkway, with the goal of improving the "paralyzed traffic flow along Chaplin to Oriole Parkway and Avenue Road." The committee called that work "only preliminary." The same report described other City work on Eglinton Avenue and Avenue Road, including a longer light at Avenue Road and a left-turn lane from northbound Avenue Road onto westbound Eglinton. It also mentioned a Davisville redesign that would add a left-turn lane from eastbound Chaplin onto northbound Yonge.
There is also a gap in the paperwork. The City's project page lists construction notices only up to the April 6 update, and the page itself was last modified May 20, 2026. No later City close-out notice was found. For now, the confirmation that the work is finished comes from the councillor's July newsletter, along with his promise of ongoing maintenance.
This is the median's first fall. The trees went in this year and the sod is new. The old median had concrete and planters you could drive over. The new one is open ground that cars can't cross. On a Sunday morning, walking south to the Eglinton Way BIA farmers' market means passing that new median the whole way to Eglinton. The market runs 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 125 Burnaby Blvd every Sunday through October 25, 2026.
If you own on Oriole Parkway or one of the side streets nearby, these changes come with your address. They affect which way a buyer approaches your driveway, where a visitor can park and how far it is to the nearest bus stop. Adam Weiner + Associates can walk your block with you and explain what the new median means for how your home lives and how it would show. Request a concierge consultation.
