Save Danforth Village Businesses
Dear BIA Members,

 

My name is Steve Minos, a local business owner and former Chairman of the Danforth Village Business Improvement Area. I am reaching out to inform you about an urgent matter that endangers the future of our businesses on Danforth Avenue. Your immediate assistance is crucial to help us avoid a potentially devastating outcome.

This spring, the City of Toronto is set to begin disruptive and prolonged construction along Danforth Avenue, from Main Street to Victoria Park, which could force countless businesses to shut their doors permanently. The project, set to last 2–3 years, involves upgrades to watermains, sewers, and bike lanes. While underground infrastructure improvements may be necessary, bike lane upgrades are not. This plan will cripple our community, leaving businesses unable to recover.

The proposal of elevated bike lanes and raised curb extensions will unnecessarily double the length of this project, leaving businesses without street parking, reducing access for deliveries, and making it nearly impossible for customers to reach storefronts. If these plans proceed, we will face a total shutdown of our main street—a death sentence for many of the small businesses already struggling to survive in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

We’ve already seen the chaos that bike lanes have caused over the past 4.5 years: increased traffic congestion, loss of parking, and dangerous conditions for pedestrians and drivers alike. Even Premier Doug Ford has acknowledged the negative impact and announced the removal of bike lanes on Bloor Street, University Avenue and Yonge Street. Despite this, the city is inexplicably moving ahead with expensive bike lane upgrades on Danforth Avenue.

Let’s be clear: these upgrades are not for the benefit of our community. They aim to accommodate a handful of cyclists—fewer than 100 on a good day—and 500 speeding Uber drivers on electric bikes, half of which are already breaking traffic laws.

The financial toll is equally alarming. The city, with a 1.2 billion shortfall, has raised property taxes (16% over the last 2 years) to fund these unnecessary projects, further burdening local business owners and residents who are already stretched thin. Are we willing to sacrifice our livelihoods for expensive, disruptive bike lane upgrades that most of us didn’t ask for and don’t need?

Time is running out. If we fail to act now, the damage will be permanent. We must speak up and demand that the city stop these unnecessary and harmful plans. Join your fellow business owners and neighbours in standing together to safeguard Danforth Avenue from this devastating proposal.

Sincerely,

Steve Minos

Carousel Hairstyling

Help save our local BIA businesses. Please send an email concerning this urgent matter to our elected officials listed below:

 

 

 

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow: mayor_chow@toronto.ca

Ontario Premier Doug Ford: premier_ford@ontario.ca

Transportation Minister: transportationminister@ontario.ca

Councillor Brad Bradford: councillor_bradford@toronto.ca

Councillor Paula Fletcher: councillor_fletcher@toronto.ca

Councillor Parthi Kandavel: councillor_kandavel@toronto.ca

Danforth Village BIA: info@dvbia.ca