The City of Toronto planned seasonal patios and bikeways for Eglinton Avenue through Midtown. It now says it can't finish what remains of that plan. Meanwhile, under the same street, a Line 5 train leaves Eglinton station every six to ten minutes on weekdays outside rush hour, and about every seven or eight minutes on weekends. From Yonge and Eglinton, that puts a museum, a river valley and a food strip each one ride away.
Line 5 opened on February 8, 2026. Eight months later, it is the easiest way out of Midtown on a weekend. This fall, the trip with the most at stake runs west.
The patios aren't coming, but the trains are frequent
The City's eglintonTOday project set out a complete-street plan for Eglinton, with bikeways and public-space upgrades that included seasonal patios. One section, between Avenue Road and Chaplin Crescent, was built in fall 2024. The City now says it cannot complete the remaining elements because of changes to the provincial Highway Traffic Act.
So the Midtown blocks of Eglinton will keep working mainly as a transit corridor, and the line beneath them is now running at a steady pace. The TTC's Line 5 page lists:
- Weekday rush hour: trains about every 4 minutes
- Weekday off-peak: every 6 to 10 minutes
- Weekends: about every 7 to 8 minutes
- Holidays: every 7 to 13 minutes
The TTC's service page puts Line 5 hours at roughly 5:30 a.m. to 1:20 a.m. Monday to Saturday. On Sundays, service starts at 7:30 a.m. and runs to the same 1:20 a.m. close. Those hours are longer than at launch. TorontoToday reported that the TTC extended them in early April.
Midtown's own stops run Chaplin, Avenue, Eglinton and Mount Pleasant from west to east. Eglinton station at 2190 Yonge Street is the accessible transfer point between Line 1 and Line 5, with washrooms. If you need the elevator, check before you leave. The TTC route page has flagged the elevator linking the Line 5 platform, the Line 5 concourse and the Line 1 platform as out for maintenance.
East: the Aga Khan Museum's busiest stretch of the year
Ride east and get off at what the TTC now calls Aga Khan Park & Museum Station. The Aga Khan Museum describes a short walk from the station along a signposted path through Aga Khan Park to the entrance.
The timing works this fall. Saks Afridi's SpaceMosque opens Saturday, October 24, in the Temporary Exhibitions Gallery. The museum describes it as a speculative story told through artifacts, sound and archival material. It joins four other shows already on the walls.
| Exhibition | Runs |
|---|---|
| Saks Afridi: SpaceMosque | October 24, 2026 to March 7, 2027 |
| Spotlight: Spanish Holbein Carpet | July 21, 2026 to February 21, 2027 |
| Hayv Kahraman: Nabog | March 10, 2026 to February 21, 2027 |
| Toronto Biennial of Art at the Aga Khan Museum | July 23, 2026 to April 11, 2027 |
| Kamrooz Aram: Lapis Intervention | July 14, 2026 to July 11, 2027 |
Adult, senior and student admission is $10, and visitors 25 and under get in free. On Wednesdays from 4 to 8 p.m., admission is free for everyone. The museum is open until 8 p.m. that day and closed Mondays. For anyone who works near Yonge and Eglinton, that makes a free Wednesday evening one transfer-free ride away.
Weekends have their own draw. The 2026 TD Pop-Up Performances are free and run Saturdays and Sundays at noon, 1 and 3 p.m. Ticketed evenings in the coming weeks include:
- Pt. Partho Sarothy, Vidushi Mita Nag and Pt. Subhen Chatterjee, Saturday, October 24, 7:30 p.m.
- Labyrinth Ensemble with Canan Sezgin Geylan and Yahya Geylan, Saturday, November 7, 8 p.m.
- Chai & Jam, Season 6, Episode 3, Saturday, November 14, 8 p.m.
Diwan, the museum restaurant, is temporarily closed. The Courtyard Café is open during museum hours. If you remember family trips to the Ontario Science Centre down the road, it now operates from a temporary home at Harbourfront Centre while its new building goes up at Ontario Place.
One stop short of the museum: the valley
Get off a few stops before the museum and you can spend the day outdoors instead. Sunnybrook Park Station sits at Leslie Street and Eglinton Avenue East. The City lists Sunnybrook Park at 1132 Leslie Street. Its park page calls it an Environmentally Significant Area, with Glendon Forest's sugar maple, white pine, beech and hemlock in the West Don River Valley, and lists it as one of the City's top spots to see birds.
Next door, Wilket Creek Park at 1100 Leslie Street is a 44-hectare valley park with more than two kilometres of trails, woodland, picnic areas and washrooms. Serena Gundy Park at 58 Rykert Crescent adds a bike trail, picnic sites and a washroom.
Wear proper shoes. The City's StrollTO guide warns that large parts of Serena Gundy have steep hills, stairs and unpaved paths. Wet leaves on stairs are a real hazard this time of year.
West: the ride where a visit counts most
Little Jamaica's businesses are still waiting for the riders the line was supposed to bring, so a westbound visit matters there. The Oakwood and Fairbank stops sit along a stretch of Eglinton West that waited years for this line.
The train has not brought the turnaround that businesses there hoped for. Two weeks after opening, CityNews reported that the chair of the Little Jamaica BIA said foot traffic had not yet picked up and businesses still needed support. The same report cited a 2022 City report that counted more than 140 permanent closures since construction began. In July, CityNews reported that the Taste of Little Jamaica festival planned for July 18 was cancelled. One business owner told the outlet that transit-rider business had fallen short of hopes. CBC Toronto reported that organizers are aiming to bring the festival back on Saturday, July 17, 2027.
There was a brighter note in February. The owner of Kingpin Wings, at 1708 Eglinton Avenue West, told CityNews he had seen some difference in business since the line opened.
When the line opened, blogTO's Line 5 food guide pointed riders to a handful of spots by stop. Hours on this strip can change, so check before you ride.
- Oakwood: Randy's Patties, across from the station
- Fairbank: Kingston 12 and Rincon Paisa
- Caledonia: Lavrador BBQ, for Portuguese takeout
- Keelesdale: The Jerk Box, just east of Eglinton and Keele
If you'd rather shape the street than just visit it, the City's Little Jamaica/Oakwood Vaughan planning framework is taking online feedback until November 30, 2026. A final report is expected in the first quarter of 2027. City Council has also directed a Cultural Districts Program that starts with formally recognizing the Little Jamaica Cultural District.
A Saturday that uses both directions
Because both trips start at the same platform, you can do the two in one day.
- Head west from Eglinton in the late morning and have patties near Oakwood or Fairbank for lunch.
- Ride back east past Yonge to Aga Khan Park & Museum Station in time for a free pop-up performance at 1 or 3 p.m.
- On October 24, stay for the opening day of SpaceMosque and the 7:30 p.m. Hindustani classical concert.
- Catch a train back to Eglinton. The TTC's service page lists Saturday service until about 1:20 a.m., but an April report gave an earlier Saturday finish, so check the TTC's same-day hours before a late ride home.
Leave out the concert and the day costs a $10 museum ticket at most, free if you're 25 or under, plus fares and whatever you spend at the counters on Eglinton West. The concert is ticketed separately.
If a fall of easy Line 5 trips has you thinking about where in Midtown your next home should be, whether a condo by Mount Pleasant or a house closer to Chaplin, the team at Appugliesi Real Estate Group can help you weigh walk times to each stop against what the current market offers. Schedule a Consultation, and we'll start with the streets you already know.
