Toronto’s St. Patrick’s Day parade today
St. Patrick’s Day is today, and with it, a parade, pub crawls and road closures. Here’s what you need to know.
Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade
The annual St. Patrick’s Day parade is happening on Sunday, beginning at noon until 1:30 p.m. on the corner of St. George and Bloor St West. A sea of green will head east on Bloor Street, turning south onto Yonge Street before finishing on Dundas Street.
The parade will last for one and a half hours, and include local dignitaries as well as the parade’s 2024 Grand Marshal, Brian Burke.
Running season kicks off
Also on Sunday is the 25th annual Toronto St. Patrick’s Day Race including 10k, 5k and 1k distances for adults and children.
Runners and walkers of all abilities and ages are welcome to the spring kick-off of the running season. In addition, the run fundraises for Achilles Canada and partners to support the community and all abilities. Registration is still open, and participants will receive a running shirt, finisher medal, a pint of beer and meal.
The Night Terrors Running Club will also be hosting a run on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. to “boost energy and spirits for Sunday’s race.” It will start at Impact Kitchen located next to St. Andrew’s Playground Park by Adelaide Street West and Brant Street, including five and 10 km distance options.
Pub crawls and events
Numerous pubs across the city in the downtown area have celebrations underway including traditions like serving green beer, playing Irish music, hosting dance-offs, pub crawls and comedy shows.
Comicon
Toronto comicon is happening this weekend from March 15 to 17 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building. Many of the thousand fans in attendance will be dressing up as pop culture, sci-fi horror, and anime and video game icons.
Weather
A relatively cool weekend is on tap for Toronto, with temperatures ranging from 5 to 10 C amid overcast skies and some sunny breaks.
Friday will be a mainly overcast day, with a high of 10 C and a low of 0 C. There is a slight chance of rain in the afternoon into the evening, beginning at 5 p.m. when there is a six per cent chance of rain decreasing to a one per cent chance at 8 p.m. Overnight, temperatures will drop to 0 C before beginning to warm again around 8 a.m. Saturday morning.
Saturday will be another cloudy day, with a high of 10 C and low of 2 C. There is a one per cent chance of rain at 1 p.m., increasing to a 27 per cent chance of rain by 10 p.m. when the temperature is set to drop to 7 C.
Sunday is forecasted to be a sunnier day, with a high of 5 C and low of 1 C. There is a 21 per cent chance of rain at 1 p.m., which will decrease to a 2 per cent chance by 7 p.m.
Road closures
A number of roads will be closed briefly during the St. Patrick’s Day parade, as well as for the St. Patrick’s Day run. These roads will be closed from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Sunday and include:
• Bayview Avenue from Pottery Road to River Street, and
• Rosedale Valley Road from Park Road to Bayview Avenue
Additionally, the following roads will be closed from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Sunday:
• St. George Street from Bloor Street West to College Street
• Devonshire Place from Bloor Street West to Hoskin Avenue
• Sussex Avenue from Huron Street to St. George Street
• Harbord Street from Huron Street to St. George Street
• Hoskin Avenue from St. George Street to Queens Park Crescent West
From 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, Bloor Street West from St. George Street to Yonge Street will be closed, as will Yonge Street from Bloor Street West to Richmond Street.
Also on Sunday, from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m., Yonge Street between Dundas and Shuter Streets will be closed.
On Saturday, March 16, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Richmond Street East between Ontario and Sherbourne Streets will be reduced to one lane for the safe use of a crane.
Jarvis street will additionally be reduced to one lane for the safe use of a crane over the weekend, beginning on Friday, March 15 until Sunday, March 17.
Ongoing road closures include:
• O’Connor Drive is down to a single lane each way between Bermondsey and Sandra for road reconstruction, and sewer and watermain installation until summer 2024.
• The Yonge and Bloor intersection is reduced to a single lane all ways for condo construction and sewer installation until 2025.
• University Avenue will be reduced to a single lane in both directions between College Street and Queen Street West to complete several infrastructure projects for the next several months.
• Queen Street is fully closed to traffic between Bay and Victoria Streets to accommodate work on a new station for the Ontario Line subway. The closure is scheduled to last for at least four-and-a-half years until 2027.
• Northbound Yonge Street is reduced to one lane between Wellington and King Streets for TTC construction. The project is scheduled to continue into 2024.
• Two northbound lanes of Yonge Street from King Street to Wellington Street are closed for TTC construction until Sept. 30, 2024.
• Two westbound lanes of Lake Shore Boulevard East from Cherry Street to Carlaw Avenue are closed until April 10, 2024.
• Finch Avenue West is reduced to a single lane in both directions from Dufferin to Wilmington for sewer installation until October 2024.
• Eglinton Avenue West is down to a single lane east of Islington and west of Scarlett Road for tunnelling work related to the multi-year Eglinton Crosstown West Extension project.
• Front Street will be reduced to one lane in each direction from Cherry Street to Trinity Street for the installation of a new sanitary sewer and water lines for a new condominium building from 8 a.m. on Monday, March 11 to 5 p.m. on Friday, March 29.
• The Esplanade will be closed to private vehicles between Jarvis and George Streets to replace a gas main and associated gas pipeline work from 7 a.m. on Wednesday, March 13 to 7 p.m. on Friday, April 5. Access will be maintained for TTC bus routes, pedestrians and cyclists with the assistance of Paid Duty Officers and Traffic Control personnel.
TTC/GO closures
There are no scheduled weekend subway or GO transit closures.
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