Is Yonge and Eglinton still messed up? (Yup.)

Using Toronto traffic cameras for live updates of Yonge and Eglinton, or a host of other intersections in the city.

A view of construction at the intersection of Yonge and Eglinton in Toronto — Pedestrians cross the street amid Yonge and Eglinton construction. (Image capture: Nov 2021 ©2023 Google)

Do you ever just stop what you’re doing and ask yourself, “Is the corner of Yonge and Eglinton still messed up?” Or “The corner of Yonge and Eglinton can’t still be messed up … can it?”

There are several good reasons why the intersection is under heavy construction, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s been thus forever — give or take.

Of course, this won’t always be the case. One day, crews will close up the holes in the ground, re-paint the lines on the road, pick up their traffic cones, and vacate the area, leaving a functioning and relatively boring intersection in their wake.

And sometimes, without actually going there, you want to figure out whether that day is today.

Well, we’re here to tell you: “Nope! It isn’t.”

Check the Torontoverse map for a live look (that feels like it could’ve been taken anytime in the last several years).

All the A lot of intersections, all the time

Okay, but where did that photo come from? And do any exist from places other than Yonge and Eg?

As it turns out, there are traffic cameras placed throughout Toronto. Each takes a photo every few minutes, and the resulting images are made available instantaneously via the City’s open data portal.

For a new Torontoverse feature, we pulled the feeds for these cameras and embedded them on the map. They auto-update so you can see a constantly evolving view of what’s going on at an intersection or swath or roadway near you — or even one halfway across town.

For example, check the map for a live look at the Gardiner (just look for the pulsing blue circle).

Exploring the city

But you don’t need our help to scan through individual camera feeds. In fact, you don’t even have to have this article open. Want to see if the City’s shovelled near you? Check for nearby traffic jams before leaving home? No problem.

Here’s how to use this traffic-camera feature in two easy steps:

Zoom in to an area of interest on the Torontoverse map, looking for a small blue circle;
Click or tap the circle to open the camera feed.

And that’s it.

Hopefully one day soon we can all click on the Yonge and Eglinton camera, and discover nothing but free-flowing traffic.

Until then, thanks to this feature, we can at least keep an eye out for progress.

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