Toronto's pesky construction has many times proven itself to be perfect fodder for memes, with anyone who resides in or even visits the city very able to relate to the day-ruining disruptions and traffic woes that our seemingly never-ending roadwork can cause.

Being that we are currently in the midst of the peak season for pothole blitzes, road resurfacing, streetcar track replacement, and other such projects, a photo one road user shared last week of a pylon-covered thoroughfare in the city is not all that surprising.

But, it is because of the fact that the random capture is so evocative of T.O.'s construction-plagued streets that the picture has gone absolutely viral in the days since, with more than 1.8 million views, 4,500 reposts and upwards of 43,000 likes at the time of publication.

Shared last Sunday, the image shows Lawrence Avenue East not just peppered with, but almost completely obscured by safety cones as far as the eye can see. "Toronto is not a serious place," the poster wrote alongside it.

Toronto is not a serious place pic.twitter.com/oL0sBvipCn

— DM (@mendezzda) September 8, 2024

The post prompted hundreds of laughs and responses, including from people who shared their own experiences and photographs of similarly nightmarish roads in the metropolis.

"This is on a good day," one person quipped. "I'm crying, it's everywhere roadwork, they never finish," another wrote. Still, another said they live a five-minute drive from where the photo was taken but were stuck in traffic for six times that long to get there.

Some wondered if the photo could even be real given how messy and infuriating the scenario looked for anyone behind the wheel.

Ah home sweet home nothing beat Toronto construction that never ends

— chris10cool99 | Vtuber wannabe (@Chris10cool99) September 9, 2024

But, the pic, taken of Lawrence at Warden Avenue in Scarborough, is indeed real and recent, and the City has an explanation for it, too.

A spokesperson told blogTO over email this week that two days before the image was taken, contracting teams kicked off paving work along the artery, which had to be put on hold because of rain that weekend.

"As the road could not fully reopen to traffic, barrels were placed to guide road users safely between the driveways of businesses and residences along Lawrence Avenue into the traffic lanes," they explained.

"From the angle that the photo shared online was taken, you cannot see the straight lines directing traffic to/from driveways and side streets."

They added that the jumble only lasted a few days, as the work wrapped up that Sunday, September 8, and the road was reopened that evening.