Descriptive Transcript: Construction in the Port Lands – March 2025

This is a descriptive transcript for: Video: Construction in the Port Lands - March 2025

[DESCRIPTION: A flyover of a curved river, lined with brown vegetation.] 

[AUDIO: Narrator with background music]

You’re looking east, over the new extension of the Don River. While all of the plants are still brown for the winter, once the weather warms up, it will transform into a lush greenspace.

[DESCRIPTION: The flyover crosses a bridge, labeled as the Cherry Street South bridge, and flies past an industrial crane, labeled as the Atlas Crane, sitting on the shore of the river.] 

[AUDIO:]

Over the past few months, we’ve repainted the north leg of the Atlas Crane, which will remain as a feature in the new park. Soon we’ll start painting the other legs to match.

[DESCRIPTION: A construction site, with a large retaining wall in the centre, labeled as a ‘promontory/overlook’, surrounded by ground of varying elevations.]

[AUDIO:]

The past few months have been busy with landscaping the western part of Biidaasige Park. You can see how we’ve started to build the rock façade of the promontory, A high point that will offer views of the downtown skyline.

 Visitors will get their first look at this park when the river and eastern section of the park open this summer. And in 2026, this western section of the park will open, along with the much-anticipated Lassonde Art Trail. 

[DESCRIPTION: An empty area of flattened soil. The water’s edge is lined with boulders.]

[AUDIO:]

The park planned for the northwest corner of the island isn’t being built yet, but if you’ve watched past videos, you’ll notice that the temporary drainage swale has been filled in.

[DESCRIPTION: The flyover turns into the Keating Channel, an urban canal with a highway on one side and a construction site on the other. The Cherry Street North bridge is labeled. After following the Keating Channel to its end, the flyover swings north to show a bridge under construction.]

[AUDIO:]

The piers for the north half of the Lake Shore Bridge are now complete. We’re now dredging between the piers to widen and deepen the river.

[DESCRIPTION: The flyover turns south to follow the newly built river. It is wide and lined with large boulders. Some ice is visible in the water. A wetland on one side is labeled, as well as the Commissioners Street bridge, which crosses the river valley.]

[AUDIO:]

This footage, taken in mid-March, shows a little bit of ice still in the new river and wetlands.

[DESCRIPTION: The flyover turns west. Near the north bank of the river, a paved area is labeled as a ‘picnic area’. Paved pathways are visible. Another paved area, with concrete circles on the ground, which are the foundations for barbecues, is also labeled ‘picnic area’. It is close to a wooden play structure labeled ‘Reaching Raccoon’.] 

[AUDIO:]

Pathways in this section of the park have been paved, and the picnic area is taking shape. You can see the foundations for bar-b-ques and picnic tables near the Reaching Raccoon. 

[DESCRIPTION: The flyover pauses and Commissioners Street and a future transit right-of-way are labeled. A green overlay appears over the future transit right-of-way, which runs parallel to Commissioners Street.]

[AUDIO:]

The future transit right-of-way is now visible south of Commissioners Street. When the park opens, this area will be a meadow until it’s time to extend transit here.

[DESCRIPTION: The flyover continues west, flying over a patch of astroturf, which is labeled as a ‘dog off leash area’, a brick building, and a playground.]

[AUDIO:]

The patch of green you see here is a future dog-off-leash area. It uses k9 turf, which is more resilient to lots of paws running and playing on it.

The playground in the park has several cool features, including the Snowy Owl stage, swings and cableways, and a water play feature inspired by the Cheltenham Badlands.

Interested in a deeper dive into the playground? Let us know in the comments!

Be sure to follow Waterfront Toronto on social media, or sign up for our newsletter to find out when it will open later this year! We’ll include a link to sign up in the video description.

[DESCRIPTION: The flyover ends with a view of the CN tower. A rendering appears of people enjoying a picnic in a grove of trees. A blue overlay appears with the logos for the Government of Canada, Ontario, Toronto, and Waterfront Toronto. Text invites the viewing to select a video to watch next or subscribe to the YouT