A stretch of Bloor Street West passing through Toronto's The Annex neighbourhood is looking a little worse for wear this week due to a road construction project. 

If the noise, dust, and general inconvenience of the closure weren't enough for nearby residents and businesses, locals are now incensed over a large portion of the roadway being used as a parking lot for contractors.

The block of Bloor West between Spadina Road and Madison Avenue is undergoing a replacement of the entire road pavement structure, including the asphalt and underlying support materials, as well as the rebuilding of sidewalks and curbs, in a project scheduled to last until no later than the end of September.

Work crews recently shut down the entire northern half of the street to accommodate this project, including an abrupt blockage of a full lane of traffic and a bike lane, all to make way for the parked cars of City-employed contractors.

The local Bloor Annex BIA shared photos of the closure on its X (formerly Twitter) account, slamming the City for ignoring the BIA and local councillor's requests to remove the inexplicable on-street contractor parking and reopen the shuttered block of the bike lane.

The @bloorannexbia is greatly dismayed to see a @cityoftoronto contractor block several lanes of Bloor St. to accommodate private vehicle parking despite multiple requests by the BIA and @DianneSaxe to remove it and reopen the Bloor Street bike lane. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/fTkhBnhpHC

— Bloor Annex BIA (@BloorAnnexBIA) August 8, 2023

The BIA notes the generous width of the roadway of Bloor Street West and the presence of nearby parking as reasons why the contractors' convenience should not be given priority over the safety of vulnerable road users.

The BIA was told prior to construction that the Bloor St. bike lane had to be closed despite the street being 16.1 metres wide at this section and now we know why. Despite @GreenPParking within 200m of the site. (2/3) pic.twitter.com/mWrQ0CjrKh

— Bloor Annex BIA (@BloorAnnexBIA) August 8, 2023

In a follow-up tweet (or post, as Elon would prefer we call it now), the BIA directly calls on Mayor Olivia Chow to address the issue.

.@MayorOliviaChow - it is unacceptable to sever the 15km Bloor bike lane in the middle for private parking for city contractors. This short-sighted action results in real safety issues for all road users. We call on the City to address this - in all sites across the city. (3/3) pic.twitter.com/zcTETFiDwy

— Bloor Annex BIA (@BloorAnnexBIA) August 8, 2023

Several people have chimed in on the perplexing allocation of infrastructure.

ridiculous to accommodate this request for contractor parking. It infuriates me that city does not put in terms to disallow this when issuing permits. Car pool, find alternate parking, transit to site but don’t expect parking on site as a right my god @oliviachow @TO_Cycling_Ped

— Muskisaknob (@muskisaknob) August 8, 2023

Among those speaking out is personal injury lawyer and cycling safety activist David Shellnutt.

Shellnutt tells blogTO, "In Toronto, the car and construction is king, and all other residents and road users are expected to bend over backwards and traverse dangerous hazards to make way for supposed development. It's profit over people."

He adds that, with rising numbers of injured pedestrians and cyclists seen in his line of work, "it pains us to see their safety not considered in infrastructure planning that affects major throughways. We need to make space for cyclists here; it's clearly available."

Wowza.

— The Biking Lawyer (Dave Shellnutt) (@TheBikingLawyer) August 8, 2023

Shellnutt notes the success of a similar project on Simcoe Street, which remained open to cyclists during an extended closure for vehicles, adding, "Perhaps whoever did the work on Simcoe Street could help those in charge of this project."